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CAS Standard Abbreviations
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
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).
