informal. People often use the abbrevia-
An abacus
expert can
add numbers
almost as fast
as a person
with a pocket
calculator.
The abacus is an ancient device to help
solve math problems.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Abbreviation 7
tion ad for the word advertising, for
example.
There are a few different kinds of abbreviations.
People often abbreviate words
by writing only the first letter, one or a
few other letters in the word, and a
period. For instance, the word teaspoon
is abbreviated as tsp.
People abbreviate phrases by writing
only the first letter of each word. This
type of abbreviation is usually written in
capital letters with no periods between
them. For example, the abbreviation for
as soon as possible is ASAP.
One of the most common types of
abbreviation is called an acronym. Acronyms
combine the first letters of a group
of words to create a new word. NASA,
which stands for National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, is an acronym.
It is pronounced NA-suh, not
N-A-S-A.
Some Common Abbreviations
AD anno Domini (in the year of
the Lord)
AM ante meridiem (before noon)
Ave. Avenue
BC before Christ
Blvd. Boulevard
C Celsius, centigrade
CD-ROM compact disc read-only
memory
cm, m, km centimeter, meter, kilometer
Dr. Doctor
DVD digital videodisc
F Fahrenheit
ft foot, feet
g, kg gram, kilogram
IOU I Owe You
Jr. Junior
l liter
mph miles per hour
no. numero (number)
oz. ounce
PM post meridiem (after noon)
Rd. Road
Sr. Senior
St. Saint, Street
vs. versus (against)
U.S. Postal Codes
AK Alaska
AL Alabama
AR Arkansas
AZ Arizona
CA California
CO Colorado
CT Connecticut
DC District of Columbia
DE Delaware
FL Florida
GA Georgia
HI Hawaii
IA Iowa
ID Idaho
IL Illinois
IN Indiana
KS Kansas
KY Kentucky
LA Louisiana
MA Massachusetts
MD Maryland
ME Maine
MI Michigan
MN Minnesota
MO Missouri
MS Mississippi
MT Montana
NC North Carolina
ND North Dakota
NE Nebraska
NH New Hampshire
NJ New Jersey
NM New Mexico
NV Nevada
NY New York
OH Ohio
OK Oklahoma
OR Oregon
PA Pennsylvania
RI Rhode Island
SC South Carolina
SD South Dakota
TN Tennessee
TX Texas
UT Utah
VA Virginia
VT Vermont
WA Washington
WI Wisconsin
WV West Virginia
WY Wyoming
8 Abbreviation BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Some acronyms become so common
that they begin to be used as real words
rather than as abbreviations. The word
laser started out as an acronym. Its full
scientific meaning is light amplification
by stimulated emission of radiation.
Abernathy, Ralph
Ralph Abernathy was a leader of the civil
rights movement in the United States.
He worked closely with Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Ralph David Abernathy was born on
March 11, 1926, in Linden, Alabama. In
1948 he became a minister in the Baptist
church. In 1950 he graduated from Alabama
State University with a degree in
mathematics. Then he studied sociology
at Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1951 Abernathy became pastor of the
First Baptist Church in Montgomery,
Alabama. A few years later he met Martin
Luther King, Jr. The two men began
fighting laws that kept blacks and whites
separated.
One such law forced blacks and whites
to sit in separate parts of buses. In 1955
Abernathy and King organized a protest
of the Montgomery bus system. Blacks
refused to ride the buses until the seating
rules were changed. This protest
helped start the civil rights movement.
In 1957 King and Abernathy started the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC). The SCLC was an organization
that worked to win equal rights
for blacks. After King was murdered in
1968, Abernathy became president of
the SCLC.
Abernathy resigned as president of the
SCLC in 1977. Then he went back to
being a pastor in Atlanta. He died there
on April 17, 1990.
#More to explore
Civil Rights Movement King, Martin
Luther, Jr.
Abidjan
Population
(2005 estimate)
urban area,
3,576,000
Abidjan is the largest city of Cote dIvoire
inWest Africa. It was the countrys
capital until 1983. Then Yamoussoukro
was made the capital. Even after that
Ralph Abernathy
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Abidjan 9
date, however, Abidjan remained the site
of most government functions.
Abidjan is located in the southern part
of the country. It has a port even though
it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean
by a sandbar. The Vridi Canal connects
the port to the sea.
Because of the port, Abidjan is a center
ofWest African trade. Cocoa, coffee,
timber, bananas, pineapples, and fish are
shipped from the port. The city also
manufactures beer, soap, matches, and
automobiles.
Abidjan became the capital of the
French colony of Ivory Coast in 1934.
Ivory Coast became the independent
country of Cote dIvoire in 1960.
Abidjan remained the capital.
#More to explore
Cote dIvoire Yamoussoukro
Abnaki
The Abnaki (or Abenaki) were a group
of Native American tribes who originally
lived in what are now New England and
eastern Canada. They included the Passamaquoddy,
the Penobscot, and the
Pennacook.
The Abnaki hunted animals such as
bear, deer, and moose in the forests.
They fished in lakes and rivers. The
coastal tribes caught lobsters and gathered
oysters and clams. The southern
tribes planted fields of corn, squash, and
beans.
The Abnaki generally lived in small
bands of related families. Bands lived
part of the year in permanent villages
and part of the year in hunting camps.
Their houses were cone-shaped wigwams
made from a wooden frame covered
with bark.
In the early 1600s Europeans began
arriving in Abnaki territory. Most were
traders who offered metal tools and
other European goods in exchange for
furs. But the Europeans also brought
diseases such as smallpox that killed
tribespeople by the thousands.
The coastal city of Abidjan is an important
business center of Cote dIvoire.
Abnaki Native Americans perform a traditional
dance in Vermont.
10 Abnaki BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
After the American Revolution (1775
83) the Americans took over much of
the tribes territory.Without land, the
Abnaki could no longer live in their
traditional way. Some managed to
change their way of life and survive. In
the late 20th century about 1,000
Abnaki lived in Quebec, Canada. More
than 6,000 Abnaki lived in the United
States.
#More to explore
Native Americans
Abolitionist
Movement
In the late 1700s people who were
opposed to slavery began a movement to
abolish, or end, the practice. This was
called the abolitionist movement. Followers
of the movement were known as
abolitionists.
Europeans had begun using Africans as
slaves in the late 1400s. After Europeans
discovered the Americas they set up
colonies there. Soon many Africans were
being shipped to the Americas to work