CAS Standard Abbreviations (1993)
Standard Abbreviations, Acronyms, Special Characters, and Symbols in CAS Computer-Readable Files and Publications. Chemical Abstracts Service, 1993. Reproduced for educational purposes with permission from CAS, a Division of the American Chemical Society.
Contents
- Introduction
- Listing A: Terms to Abbreviations
- Listing B: Abbreviations to Terms
Introduction
In both printed CA Issues and Indexes and computer-readable services, certain abbreviations and acronyms are automatically generated for terms in the abstract text, the keyword phrases, and the text modifying phrases for index entries. Users of computer-readable services need to know these standard abbreviations and acronyms in order to be able to use them in search profiles and identify them in text.
In this document, automatically generated abbreviations and acronyms in CAS publications and services are arranged in two lists. To guide users to abbreviations they need to include in their search profiles, Listing A is arranged in the alphabetical order of the full terms which are abbreviated. Do not use periods when searching CAS abbreviations or acronyms online. To provide explanation of abbreviations encountered in text, Listing B is arranged in the alphabetical order of abbreviations and acronyms.
In addition to the terms specifically listed as standard abbreviations and acronyms, abbreviations are automatically generated for the following types of words:
- Words formed by adding prefixes to terms normally abbreviated may also be abbreviated, e.g.,“microchem.” for “microchemical.” In Listing A, words indicated by # on the left are those which, if prefixed, are generally abbreviated. Abbreviations for some common prefixed terms are listed separately.
- Words ending in “-ology” or “-ologic(al)(ly)” are abbreviated “-ol.,” e.g., “geol.” for “geology.” Some examples of such words are listed separately on the following pages.
- Words ending in “-ography” or “-ographic(al)(ly)” are abbreviated “-og.,” e.g., “chromatog.” for “chromatographic.” Some examples of such words are listed separately on the following pages.
- Plurals of noun abbreviations are formed by adding “s” to the singular abbreviation, e.g., “derivs.” for “derivatives.” Two exceptions are cases when a single abbreviation is designated to show both the singular and plural forms (e.g., “equil.” for “equilibrium(s)” and words marked on the list with an asterisk(*) whose plurals are not abbreviated.
- Verb forms that require “s” are abbreviated by adding “s” to the listed abbreviation, e.g., “Compd. decomps. on heating” for “Compound decomposes heating.”
Standard abbreviations and acronyms are not automatically generated for terms appearing in titles. However, in titles abbreviations used by the author may appear.
In addition to the standard, automatically generated abbreviations and acronyms, other acronyms, atomic symbols (e.g., Cl, Sb), and molecular formulas (e.g., NaCl) may also be used in CAS publications and services. Many acronyms are defined in the CA Index Guide.
Examples of some terms ending in “-ology” that are abbreviated “-ol.”:
anesthesiology limnology bacteriology meteorology biology methodology cardiology morphology chronology nephrology cytology neurology dermatology oncology ecology ophthalmology endocrinology pathology enzymology petrology epidemiology pharmacology etiology physiology gastroenterology radiology geology rheology gynecology sedimentology hematology serology histology technology homology teratology hydrology topology immunology virology
Abbreviation “-ol.” is also applied to the adjective form, e.g., “pharmacologic(al), the adverb form, e.g., pharmacologically,” and prefixed forms, e.g., “neuropharmacology,” of terms ending in “-ology.”
Examples of some terms ending in “-ography” that are abbreviated “-og.”:
angiography metallography bibliography micrography biography oceanography cardiography petrography cholecystography photography chromatography planography crystallography polarography derivatography radiography electroencephalography reprography electrography spectrography fractography thermography fragmentography tomography geography topography holography xerography lithography
Abbreviation “og.” is also applied to the adjective form, e.g., “geographic(al), the adverb form, e.g., geographically,” and prefixed forms, e.g., “paleogeography,” of terms ending in “ography.”
Abbreviations for some common prefixed terms *
anal. (analysis)
electroanal. immunoanal. microanal. radioanal. thermoanal.
at. [atomic(al)(ly)]
diat. interat. monoat. polyat. tetraat. triat.
chem. [chemical(ly), chemistry]
agrochem. biochem. cytochem. electrochem. geochem. histochem. immunochem. neurochem. petrochem. photochem. physicochem. radiochem. spectrochem. thermochem.
clin. [clinic(al)(ly)]
preclin. subclin.
cond. (conductivity)
electrocond. magnetocond. photocond. semicond. supercond. thermocond.
crystn. (crystallization)
cocrystn. electrocrystn. recrystn.
decompn. (decomposition)
photodecompn.
degrdn. (degradation)
biodegrdn. photodegrdn. thermodegrdn.
detn. (determination)
immunodetn. microdetn.
dissocn. (dissociation)
photodissocn. predissocn.
elec. [electric(al)(ly)]
acoustoelec. bioelec. dielec. ferroelec. isoelec. paraelec. photodielec. photoelec. piezoelec. pyroelec. thermoelec.
equil. (equilibrium)
disequil. nonequil. preequil.
extn. (extraction)
coextn. electroextn. reextn.
Hb (hemoglobin)
carbonylHb carboxyHb deoxyHb ferriHb metHb oxyHb sulfHb
irradn. (irradiation)
postirradn. preirradn.
mech. [mechanic(al)(ly)]
biomech. electromech. micromech. photomech. physicomech. thermomech.
mol. (molecule, molecular)
bimol. intermol. intramol. macromol. monomol. supermol. supramol. lurbomol. unimol.
org. [organic(ally)]
bioinorg. bioorg. chloroorg. electroorg. fluoroorg. inorg. metalloorg. microorg.
oxidn. (oxidation)
autoxidn. biooxidn. cooxidn. deoxidn. electrooxidn. epoxidn. peroxidn. photooxidn. reoxidn. thermooxidn.
pptn. (precipitation)
copptn. immunopptn.
soly. (solubility)
hydrosoly. insoly. liposoly.
sym. [symmetry, symmetric(al)(ly)]
asym. unsym.
See “Standard Abbreviations and Acronyms,” Listing A for a complete list of terms which, if prefixed, are generally abbreviated.
Characters and Symbols in CAS Computer-Readable Files
In computer-readable files all characters of the Roman alphabet and numbers are represented in the same way as in CAS publications. However, no distinctions are made for italic, boldface, or small capital letters. Also, superscripts and subscripts appear on the line.
Special conventions are used to represent some characters and symbols in computer-readable files. These conventions are shown in the following lists. Some of these characters and symbols can be searched in computer-readable files. For search terms, representations without the periods are used.
Greek Letters: Conventions for Representing in Computer-Readable Files
Greek Letter How to enter in CAS Alpha .ALPHA. Beta .BETA. Gamma .GAMMA. Delta .DELTA. Epsilon .EPSILON. Zeta .ZETA. Eta .ETA. Theta .THETA. Iota .IOTA. Kappa .KAPPA. Lambda .LAMBDA. Mu .MU. Nu .NU. Xi .XI. Omicron .OMICRON. Pi .PI. Rho .RHO. Sigma .SIGMA. Tau .TAU. Upsilon .UPSILON. Phi .PHI. Chi .CHI. Psi .PSI. Omega .OMEGA. Alpha .alpha. Beta .beta. Gamma .gamma. Delta .delta. Delta (variant) .vdelta. Epsilon .epsilon. Epsilon (variant) .vepsiln. Zeta .zeta. Eta .eta. Theta .theta. Theta (variant) .vtheta. Iota .iota. Kappa .kappa. Kappa (variant) .vkapa. Lambda .lambda. Mu .mu. Nu .nu. Xi .xi. Omicron .omicron. Pi .pi. Pi (variant) .vpi. Rho .rho. Sigma .sigma. Sigma (variant) .vsigma. Tau .tau. Upsilon .upsilon. Phi .phi. Phi (variant) .vphi. Chi .chi. Psi .psi. Omega .omega.
Symbols: Conventions for Representing in Computer-Readable Files
Symbol How to enter in CAS Angle .angle. Angstrom Unit .ANG. Approaches .apprch. Approximately Equal .apprxeq. Approximates (similar) .apprx. Bounded Integral .bdintg. Box .box. Bullet .bul. Cent .cents. Center Dot .cndot. Contained im .cntnd. Contains .cntns. Copyright .copyrgt. Cross Product .crosprd. Dagger .dag. Dash/Minus - Degree .degree. Del (Nabia) .del. Division .div. Does Not Result in .dnresit. Double Arrow .dblawr. Double Dagger .dbldag. Double Half Arrows .dblharw. Double Plus .++. Double Vertical .dblvert. Down Arrow .dwnarw. Forward Arrow .fwdarw. Forward Curved Arrow .fwdcarw. Greater Than or Equal .gtoreq. Greater Than or Similar .gtorsim. Identity .ident. Infinity .infin. Integral .intg. Intersection .intrsec. Left Broken Bracket .ltbbrac. Less Than or Equal .ltoreq. Less Than or Similar .ltorsim. Lambda Bar .lbdabar. Member .member. Minus-Plus .-+. Much Greater Than .mchgt. Much Less Than .mchlt. Not a Member of .notmbr. Not Equal .noteq. Of Sun .sun. Overhead Dot .ovrhdot. Overhead Double Bar .ovrhdbr. Per Mill .permill. Perpendicular .perp. Planck's Constant .plcnst. Plus-Minus .+-. Pound Sterling .pnd. Prime / apostrophe ' Product .product. Registered Trade Mark .RTM. Reverse Arrow .rarw. Reverse Curved Arrow .rcarw. Reverse Surface Chemical Arrow .rscharw. Right Broken Bracket .rtbbrac. Script A .SCRIPTA. Script B .SCRIPTB. Script C .SCRIPTC. Script D .SCRIPTD. Script E .SCRIPTE. Script F .SCRIPTF. Script G .SCRIPTG. Script H .SCRIPTH. Script L .SCRIPTL. Script P .SCRIPTP. Script R .SCRIPTR. Script S .SCRIPTS. Similar or Equal .simeq. Square Root .sqroot. Sum .sum. Surface Chemistry Arrow .scharw. Symmetry .sym. Tautomer .tautm. Thermodynamics .thermod. Times .times. Triple Bond .tplbond. Union .union. Up Arrow .uparw. Varies .varies. Vector .vector. Vinculum (high) .hivin. Vinculum (low) .lovin. Yen .yen.
NOTE: Symbols which modify characters (e.g., the viniculum) precede the character (i.e., A becomes .hivin.A).