150+ Useful Symbols and Abbreviations For Note Taking

Note-taking symbols and abbreviations! Here’s a list of essential symbols and abbreviations for note-taking that will help you write more quickly and efficiently.

Note-Taking Symbols and Abbreviations

Abbreviations For Note Taking

List of note-taking abbreviations in English from A to Z.

approx.: Approximately
b/c: Because
b/4: Before
bk.: Book
C: (e.g. 21C for ‘twenty-first century’)
c.: Approximately, roughly, about (abbreviation for the Latin ‘circa’)
cf.: Compared to, in comparison with
cp.: Compare
def.: Definition
diff.: Different, difference
ea.: Each
e.g.: For example
fr.: From
etc.: And so on
i.e.: That is, that means, in other words
impt.: Important
NB: Important, notice this, note well
nec.: Necessary
re.: Regarding, about
sim.: Similar
s/t: Something
T.: Theory, theoretical
tho’: Though
thro’: Through
w/: With
w/o: Without
viz.: Namely, that is to say
v.: Very
vv.: Extremely
vs.: Against
ppl: People
res: Research
natl: National
eqn: Equation
ed: Education
dep: Department
esp: Especially
ustand: Understand
Am.: Morning
Pm.: Afternoon
asap: As soon as possible
Wrt: With respect to
=ity: Equality
evryt: Everything
infl: Influence
r.: Rate (i.e. birth r.)
devel: Development
expl: Explanation
trad: Traditional
cult: Cultural
instit: Institution
justific: Justification
nt: Nothing
lrg: Large
soc.: Social or society
Stats: Statistics
Am’t: Amount
educat’l: Educational
subj: Subject
cons: Conservative
ind: Individual
ckg: Checking
estg: Establishing
Expting: Experimenting
bkgd: Background
ppd: Prepared
prblm: Problem
C19: Nineteenth century; similarly C20 etc.
1920s: i.e. 1920-1929; similarly 1970s etc.
Ltd: Limited
max.: Maximum
min.: Minimum
G.B.: Great Britain
U.K: United Kingdom
Eng.: English
Brit.: British
Sts: Students

Symbols For Speedy Note-Taking

List of note-taking symbols in English from A to Z.

2: To, two, too
4: For
8: Anything ending in ‘ate’
+: And, also, as well as, in addition to, plus
– : Minus, without
≠: Does not equal, is not the same as, does not result in
≈: Is approximately equal to, is similar to
=: Equals, is the same as, results in
>: Is greater than, is larger than
↑: Increase, rise, growth
<: Is less than, is smaller than
↑↑: Rapid increase
↓ : Decrease, fall, shrinkage
↓↓: Rapid decrease
∴ : Therefore, thus
∵ : Because
→ : Leads on to, produces, causes
x : No, not, incorrect
xx : Definitely not, disproved
? : Uncertain, possibly, unproven, question
✓ : Yes, correct
✓✓: Definitely, certain, proven
# : Number
✳ : Special, important, notable (when added to a word or phrase)
/ : Per (e.g., £50/day instead of ‘fifty pounds per day’)
! : Not, isn’t
@: At
∝: Proportional to
Δ : Change
♀️: Female or women
♂️: Male or men
… : Means space in quote

Specific Historical Terms

19thC or 19C: 19th Century
WWI: World War I
WWII: World War II
Indust. Rev.: Industrial Revolution
Fren. Rev.: French Revolution
Rus. Rev.: Russian Revolution
Nat Soc or Nazism: National Socialism
Prus: Prussian
US: United States or American
Brit or GB: Great British or Britain
Eng.: English or England
Germ.: German
Fr.: French, France

Less Frequently Used Abbreviations For Note Taking

A: Answer
adm.: Administration
adj.: Adjective, adjourned, adjustment
abr.: Abridged
abbr.: Abbreviation, abbreviated
acad.: Academic, academy
aka.: Also known as
app.: Appendix
assoc.: Association
biol.: Biology
bibliog.: Bibliography
bot.: Botanical, botany
cap.: Capital, capitalise
chap.: Chapter
chem.: Chemical
co.: Company
colloq.: Colloquial, colloquialism
conf.: Conference, confer
cont.: Containing, content, continental, continue, continued
com.: Commercial, commission, common, communication, community
cr.: Credit
crit.: Criticism
diag.: Diagram
disc.: Discovered
dist.: Distinguished
div.: Dividend, division
distr.: Distribution, distributed
econ.: Economics, economy
est.: Established, estimate
ex.: Examined, example
excl.: Excluding
f.: Feminine, feminism, frequency
gen.: Gender, general
govt.: Government
hist.: Historian, historical, history
illus.: Illustrated
inc.: Including
info.: Information
lang.: Language
m.: Male
orig.: Original, originated
p. / pp.: Page / pages
para.: Paragraph
poss.: Possible, possibly
prin.: Principal
prob.: Problem, probable, probably
probs: Problems
prob.: Produced by, producer, production
pt./pts.: Part, point / parts, pts
Q.: Question
ref.: Refer, reference
reg.: Region, registered, regular, regulation
rev.: Review, revision
sci.: Science, scientific
sect.: Section
sp.: Special, species, specific
st.: Study, student
univ.: Universal, university
usu.: Usually
vers.: Version
yr.: Year

Symbols and Abbreviations For Note Taking | Pictures

Useful Abbreviations for Note Taking | Image 5

Abbreviations for Note Taking | Image 6