Netiquette Basic Abbreviations Most Commonly Used - Definitions

Generally, Netiquette discourages using abbreviations when not necessary or helpful. These most typically are words are not accepted by the most popular dictionaries or those that can lose meaning for those with whom English is a second language. Examples are "thx" for thanks or "rgds" for regards. The following list is outside of this catagory because they have almost always been written as abbreviations and are even used by other languages with exactly the same meaning.

The list below includes the most common of these abbreviations. Although they are abbreviations, they are also often misspelled. Be careful with the periods!

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1.	c or ©	Copyright (©2013)
2.	c. ca	“About,” “around,” circa; used with dates (He was born c. 2000.)
3.	cf.	Compare or consult—used to provide contrasting or opposing information
4.	ed.	Editor, edited, edition
5.	e.g.	“For example,” the abbreviation for exempli gratia
6.	et al.	“And others,” the abbreviation for et alia; also, elsewhere, the abbreviation for et alibi
7.	etc.	“And so on” or “and so forth,” the abbreviation for et cetera
8.	ibid.	Abbreviation for ibidem, used in citations to refer again to the last source previously referenced
9.	i.e.	“That is,” the abbreviation for id est; used to give specific clarification via a restatement; “in other words”
10.	loc. cit	“In the place cited”; used the same way as ibid.
11.	ms. mss	Manuscript, manuscripts
12.	NB	“Note well,” the abbreviation for nota bene
13.	nd	“No date;” used when the publication or copyright date of a source is not known
14.	op. cit	In the works cited; used the same as ibid. and loc. cit
15.	q.v.	“Which see,” “whom see”; indicates that the reference is within the same source; encyclopedias may use this to refer to other entries within that same encyclopedia.
16.	viz.	“namely”
17.	vs.	“versus”