Abbreviations are a part of everyday life and are becoming increasingly prevalent in the areas of banking, computers, and business. Compiled from the resources of the Oxford English Dictionary and a wide range of newspapers and journals, Dictionary of Abbreviations, Second Edition is the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide to abbreviations available in paperback. Covering all the most important business, scientific, and technical abbreviations, as well as those in everyday use, the dictionary contains over 20,000 abbreviations and 36,000 definitions. Included here are acronyms (ROM, NATO), initialisms (OED, CFC), shortenings (Sun. for Sunday), symbols, and signs (K, HZ, and A4), as well as hybrid forms (A-bomb). Coverage is also international in scope, and graphic symbols such as proofreading marks, hallmarks, music, science, and weather symbols are all provided in a series of appendices. This new edition, containing 1,700 new headwords and senses, also provides the latest abbreviations for organizations, terms used in advertising, computers and the internet, medicine, and government.