AC - Armored Cable
AC - Alternating Current
ACIA - Asynchronous Communication Interface Adapter
ACK - Acknowledge
ACL - Advanced CMOS Logic
ACR - Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio
A/D - Analog to Digital
ADC - Analog-to-Digital Converter
ADF - Automatic Document Feeder
ADSL Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line
AFCI - Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter
AF - Audio Frequency
AFC - Automatic Frequency Control
AGC - Automatic Gain Control
AGP - Accelerated Graphics Port
AI - Artificial Intelligence
AIFF - Audio Interchange File Format
AIX - Advanced Interactive Executive
ALC - Automatic Level Control
AL/Cu - Aluminum/Copper
ALU - Arithmetic Logic Unit
A/N - Alphanumeric
ANSI - American National Standards Institute
API - Application Program Interface
ARRL - American Radio Relay League
AS - Advanced Schottky
ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASP - Active Server Page
ASP - Application Program Interface
ASIC - Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials
ASK - Amplitude-Shift Keying
ATA - Application Service Attachment
ATM - Asynchronous Transfer Mode
ATC - Air Traffic Control
AV - Audio/Visual
AVC - Automatic Volume Control
AWG - American Wire Gauge
BASIC - Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
BD - Bonding Diagram
BBD - Bucket Brigade Device
BCD - Binary Coded Decimal
BER - Bit Error Rate
BEV - Billion Electron Volts
BGA - Ball Grid Array < P>BiCMOS - Bipolar Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
BICSI - Building Industry Consulting Service International
BIFET - BIpolar Field-Effect Transistor
BIOS - Basic Input-Output System
BMP - Bitmap
BNC - Baby N Connector
BPI - Bits Per Inch
BPS - Bits Per Second
BPSG - Boro-Phospo-Silicate Glass
BSE - Back-Scattered Electrons
BST - Ball Shear Test
BW - BandWidth
CerDIP - Ceramic Dual In-line Package
CAD - Computer Aided Design
CADA - Computer Assisted Design and Analysis
CADD - Computer Assisted Design and Development
CAE - Computer Assisted Engineering
CAM - Computer Assisted Manufacturing CAN - CANcel
CAS - Column-Address Strobe
CATV - Community Antenna Television
CB - Citizens' Band
CBI - Complementary Binary
CC - Constant Current
CCITT - International Telegraphy and Telephony Consultative Committee
CCTV - Closed Circuit TeleVision
CCD - Charge Coupled Device
CD - Compact Disc CD> - Compact Disk - Interactive
CD-R - Compact Disc Recordable
CD-ROM - Compact Disc Read-Only Memory
CD-RW - Compact Disc Re-Writable
CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access
CF - Center Frequency
CFM - Cubic Feet per Minute
CL - Current Loop
CP/M - Control Program for Microcomputers
CPI - Character Per Inch
CEC - Canadian Electrical Code
CECL - Cascode Emitter-Coubled Logic
COL -Chip On Lead
CEMF - Counter ElectroMotive Force
CerDIP - Ceramic Dual Inline Package
CGI - Common Gateway Interface
CISC - Complex Instruction Set Computing
CMOS - Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
CMP - Communications Plenum Cable
CMR - Communications Riser Cable
CP - Consolidation Point
CPU - Central Prcessing Unit
CSAM - C-mode Scanning Acoustic Microscopy
CRC - Cyclic Redundancy Check
CRT - Cathode Ray Tube
CS - Control Strobe
CSA - Canadian Standards Association
CSP - Chip Scale Package
CSS - Cascading Style Sheet
CTC - Counter/Timer Circuit
CTS - Clear To Send
CTP - Composite Theoretical Performance
CV - Constant Voltage
CVT - Constant Voltage Transformer
D/A - Digital to Analog
DAC - Digital to Analog Converter
DAV - Data Available
dB - Decibel
DBA - DeciBels - Adjusted
DBK - DeciBels - referred to 1 Kilowatt
dBM - DeciBels - above or below 1 milliwatt
DCD - Data Carrier Detect
DES - Data Encription Standard
DFP - Dual Flat Pack
DIAC - Bilateral trigger diode
DIL - Dual In Line
DIP - Dual In-line Package
DJS - Diminishing JAN Source
DMA - Direct Memory Access
DMM - Digital MultiMeter
DP - Data Processing
DPDT - Double Pole Double Throw
DPST - Double Pole Single Throw
DS - Data Strobe (logic signal)
DSO - Digital Storage Oscilloscope
DSP - Digital Signal Processing
DTL - Diode Transistor Logic
DTMF - Dual Tone Multi-Frequency
DTR - Data Terminal Ready
DVM - Digital Volt-Meter
DBMS - Database Management System
DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite
DBV - DeciBels - Voltage
DBX - DeciBels - above reference coupling
DC - Direct Current
DDR - Double Data Rate
DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DIMM - Dual Inline Memory Module
DLL - Dynamic Link Library
DMA - Direct Memory Access
DNS - Domain Name System
DO - Diode Outline
DOS - Disc Operating System
DPI - Dots Per Inch
DRAM - Dynamic Random Access Memory
DRM Digital Rights Management
DS - Digital Signal
DAC - Digital-to-Analog Converter
DSLAM - Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer
DSL - Digital Subscriber Line
DTD - Document Type Definition
DV - Digital Video
DVD - Digital Video Disc
DV/DT - Delta Voltage/Delta Time
DSP - Digital Signal Processing
EAPROM - Electricaly Alterable Read Only Memory
EEPROM - Electricaly Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EBCDIC - Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
ECC - Error Checking and Correction
ECL - Emitter Coupled Logic
EEPROM - Electricaly Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange
EF - Entrance Facility
EGA - Enhanced Graphics Adapter
EIA - Electronic Industries Alliance
EL - ElectroLuminescent
ELF - Extremly Low Frequency
EMF - ElectroMotive Force
EMI - ElectroMagnetic Interference
EMP - ElectroMagnetic Pulse
EMT - Electrical Metallic Tubing
ENIAC - Electronic Numerical Integrater and Computer
ENT - Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing
EOT - End Of Transmission
EPLD - Electricaly Programmable Logic Device
EPROM - Electricaly Programmable Read Only Memory
EPI - Epitaxial Layer
EPS - Encapsulated Post Script
EQ - Equalizer
ER - Equipment Room
ESCA - Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis
ESD - Electrostatic Sensitive Device
ESDS - ESD Sensitivity
ESR - Equivalent Series Resistance
EV - Electron Volt
ER - Equipment Room
FET - Field Effect Transistor
FEXT - Far End Crosstalk
FC - Flat Cable Assembly
FCC - Flat Conductor Cable
FCC - Federal Communications Commission
FDDI - Fiber Distributed Data Interface
FIB - Focused Ion Beam
FMC - Flexible Metal Conduit
FMT - Flexible Metallic Tubing
FPU - Floating Point Unit
FTIR - Fourier Transform Infrared
FTP - File Transfer Protocol
GA - Gate Array
GAL - Generic Array Logic
GCS - Gate Controller Switch
GFLOPS - Billions of FLOating Point operations per Second
GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
GIS - Geographic Information Systems
GND - Ground
GPIB - General Purpose Interface Bus
GPS - Global Positioning System
GUI - Graphical User Interface
HAL - Hardwired Array Logic
HC - High speed Cmos
HCT - High speed Cmos with Ttl thersholds
HD - High Density
HDC - Hard Disk Controller
HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface
HDPE - High Density Polyethylene Conduit
HDTV - High Definition TeleVision
HDX - Half Duplex
HER - High Efficiency Red
HET - Hetetodyne
HF - High Frequency
HFS - Hierarchical File System
HIC - Hybrid Integrated Circuit
HPIB - Hewlett Packard Interface Bus
HPIL - Hewlett Packard Interface Loop
HSA - High Speed Amplifier
HSC - High Speed Converter
HTL - High Threshold Logic
HTTP - Hypertext Tranfer Protocol
HVDC - High Voltage Direct Current
HVPS - High Voltage Power Supply
Hz - Hertz
IA - Instrumentation Amplifier
IC - Integrated Circuit
ICE - InCircuit Emulation
ICF - Internet Connection Firewall
ICMP - Internet Control Message Protocol
ICS - Internet Connection Sharing
IDC - Insulation Displacement Connection
IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IF - Intermediate Frequency
IGBT - Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
IGFET - Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor
IGP - Internet Graphics Processor
IGS - Integrated Gas Spacer Cable
ILD - Inter-Layer Dielectric
ILS - In-Line Sampling
IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol
IMC - Intermediate Metal conduit
IMD - Inter-Metal Dielectric
I/O - Input-Output
IOB - Input/Output processor
IP - Interface Processor
IPX - Internetwork Packet Exchange
IR - Infrared
IRED - InfraRed Emitting Diode
ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network
ISN - Information Systems Network
ISO - International Organization for Standardization
JFET - Junction Field Effect Transistor
JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group
JLCC - J-Leaded Chip Carrier
JRE - Java Runtime environment
JSP - Java Server Page
JUG - Joint Users Group
- Kilo
KA - KiloAmpere
KBPS - KiloBits Per Second
KEV - Kilo Electron Volts
KHz - Kilo Hertz
KVA - Kilo Volt Amperes
KWH - Kilo Watt Hours
LF - Low Frequency
LISP - List Processing
LEM - Light Emission Microscopy
LFCSP - Leadframe Chip Scale Package
LIMS - Laser Ionization Mass Spectroscopy
LO - Local Oscillator
LORAN - Long Range Navigation
LP - Low Pass
LPC - Linear Predictive Coding
LPM - Lines Per Minute
LPT - Line Printer
LSB - Least Significant Bit
LSD - Least Significant Digit
LSI - Large Scale Integration
LW - Long Wave
L - Inductance
LLFET - Logic Level Field Effect Transistor
LAN - Local Area Network
LASCR - Light Activated Silicon Controlled Rectifier
LASER - Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
LCD - Liquid Chrystal Display
LD - Line Driver
LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
LED - Light Emitting Diode
LFMC - Liquidtight Flexible Metal Conduit
LFNC - Liquidtight Flexible Nonmetallic Conduit
LPI - Lines Per Inch
LQFP - Low Profile Quad Flat Pack
LUN - Logical Unit Number
MAC - Media Access Control
MC - Main Crossconnect
MC - Metal-Clad Cable
MAN - Metropolitan Area Network
MANET - Mobile Ad Hoc Network
MB - MegaBytes
MCM - Multichip Module
MCP - Multichip Package
MUX - Multiplexer
Mbps - Megabits per second
MCA - Micro Channel Architecture
MCU - MicroComputer Unit
MDAC - Multiplying Digital to Analog Converter
MECL - Motorola Emitter Coupled Logic
MFLOPS - Millions of FLoating Point operations per Second
MFM - Modified Frequency Modulation
MHz - Megahertz
MI - Mineral Insulated Cable
MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIPS - Million Instructions Per Second
MMU -- Memory Management Unit
MO - Master Oscillator
MOS - Metal Oxide Semiconductor
MOSFET - Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
MOV - Metal Oxide Varistor
MP3 - MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3
MPEG - Moving Picture Expert Group
MQFP - Metal Quad Flat Pack
MR - Magnetic Resonance
MS-DOS MicroSoft Disk Operating System
MSB - Most Significant Bit
MSD - Most Significant Digit
MSI- Medium Scale Intergration
MSOP - Micro Small Outline Package
MSP - Mixed Signal Processing
MTS - Multichannel Television Sound
MTU - Maximum Transmission Unit
MV - Medium Voltage Cable
NAT - Network Address Translation
NC - Normally Closed
NEC - National Electric Code
NEXT - Near End Crosstalk
NEMA - National Electrical Manufacturers' Association
NetBIOS - Network Basic Input-Output System
NF - NanoFarad
NFPA - National Fire Protection Association
NFS - Network File Server
NIC - Network Interface Card
NiCad - Nickel Cadmium
NM - Nonmetallic-sheathed Cable
NMOS - N-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor
NMR - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
NNTP - Network News Transfer Protocol
NO - Normally Open
NOC - Network Operations Center
NPN - Negative Positive Negative
NPS - National Pipe Straight Thread
NPT - National Pipe Tapered Thread
NTC - Negative Temperature Coefficient
NTFS - New Technology File System
NRZ - Non Return to Zero
NRZI - Non Return to Zero Invert
NT - Network Terminator
NUCC - Nonmetallic Underground Conduit with Conductors
NPN - Negative/Positive/Negative Bipolar Transistor
OC - Open Collector
OCR - Optical Character Recognition
ODBC - Open database Connectivity
OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer
OFNP - Optical Fiber Nonconductive Plenum Cable
OLAP - Online Analytical Processing
OLE - Object Linking and Embedding
OOP - Object Oriented Programming
OSPF - Open Shortest Path First
OTDR - Optical Time Domain Reflectometer
OTP - One Time Programmable
OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSP - Outside Plant
OVP - Over Voltage Protection
OVP - Over Voltage Protection
P2P - Peer to Peer
PBX - Private Branch Exchange
PC - Personal Computer
PCB - Printed Circuit Board
PCI - Periferal Component Interconnect
PCI-X - Periferal Component Interconnect Extended
PDF - Portable Document Format
PDIP - Plastic Dual In-line Package
PDN - Public Data Network
PGA - Pin Grid Array
PIM - Personal Information Manager
PING - Packet Internet Groper
PLCC - Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier
PLL - Phase Locked Loop
PMU - Power Managemen Unit
PNG - Portable Network Graphic
PNP - Positive/Negative/Positive Bipolar Transistor
POP3 - Post Office Protocol
POT - Potentiometer
PPI - Pixels Per Inch
PQFP - Plastic Quad Flat Pack
PRAM - Parameter Random Access Memory
PSOP - Power Small Outline Package
PVC - Rigid Polyvinyl Chloride Conduit
QFP - Quad Flat Pack
QIC - Quarter Inch Cartridge
QIP - Quad Inline Package
QSM - Quad Surface Mount
RAID - Redundant Array of Independent Discs
RADAR - RAdio Detection And Ranging
RAM - Random Access Memory
RAS - Row Address Strobe
RDF - Resource Description Framework
RDRAM - Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory
RFI - Radio Frequency Interference
RGA - Residual Gas Analysis
RGB - Red Green Blue
RISC - Reduced Instruction Set Computing
RJ - Registered Jack
RMC - Rigid Metal Conduit
RMI - Radio Magnetic Interference
RMS - Root Mean Square
ROM - Read Only Memory
RPC - Remote Procedure Call
RSS - RDF Site Summary
RTE - Runtime Environment
RTD - Resistance Temperature Detector
RTF - Rich Text format
RTI - Real Time Interrupt
RTL - Resistor Transistor Logic
RTRC - Reinforced Thermosetting Resin Conduit
RTOS - Real Time Operating System
RTS - Request To Send
RUP - Rational Unified Process
SATA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
SAW - Surface Acoustic Wave
SBC - Single Board Computer
SCA - SubCarrier Adapter
SCI - Serial Communication Interface
SCL - Serial CLock
SCR - Silicon Controller Rectifier
SCS - Silicon Controller Switch
SCSI - Small Computer System Interface
SD - Secure Digital
SEM - Scanning Electron Microscope
SDRAM - Symetric Digital Subscriber Line
SE - Service-Entrance Cable
SG - Signal Ground
SIMM - Single In-line Memory Module
SIO - Serial Input and Output
SIP - Single In-line Package
SIPO - Serial In Parallel Out
SKU - Stock Keeping Unit
SLC - Sigle Layer Ceramic
SLI - Scalable Link Interface
SM - Surface Mount
SMT - Surface Mount Technology
SMART - Self Managing and Reporting Technology
SMB - Server Message Block
SMD - Surface Mount Device
SMS - Short Message Service
SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SNR - signal to Noise Ratio
SO - Serial Output
SOA - Service Oriented Architecture
SOAP - Simple Object Access Protocol
SOC - System on a Chip
SO-DIMM - Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module
SOI - Silicon on Insulator
SOIC - Small Outline Integrated Circuit
SOJ - Small Outline J-leaded
SQL - Structured Query Language
SOLV - SoLenoid Valve
SONAR - Sound Navigation and Ranging
SOP - Small Outline Package
SP - Signal Processor
SPDT - Single Pole Double Throw
SPI - Serial to Parallel Interface
SPICE - Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis
SPST - Single Pole Single Throw
SQL - Structured Query Language (for databases)
SR - Shift Register
SRAM - Static Random Access Memory
SSB - Single SideBand
SSH - Secure Shell
SSI - Small Scale Integration
SSID - Service Set Identifier
SSL - Secure Sockets Layer
SSR - Solid State Relay
SSTV - Slow Scan TeleVision
SW - Short Wave
T/H - Track and Hold
TC - Temperature Coefficient
TC - Power and Control Tray Cable
TCP-IP - Transmission Control Protocol - Internet Protocol
TD - Tunnel Diode
TDD - Telecomunication Devices for the Deaf
TEM - Transverse Electromagnetic (wave)
TF - Transfer Function
TFD - Thin Film Detector
TFEL - Thin Film ElectroLuminescent
SOIC - Small Outline Integrated Circuit
TFP - Triple Flat Pack
TFT - Thin Film Transistor
TIFF - Tagged Image File Format
THD - Total Harmonic Distortion
THz - TeraHertz
TIA - Telecommunications Industry Association
TIG - Tungsten Inert Gas
TM - Transverse Magnetic
TR - Transient Response
TR - Telecommunications Room
TSOP - Thin Small Outline Package
TVSS - Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor
TQFP - Thin Quad Flat Pack
TRIAC - Biderectional Triode Thyristor
TWT - Traveling Wave Tube
TX - Transmitter
UART - Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
UDDI - Universal Description Discovery and Integration
UDP - User Datagram Protocol
UF - Underground Feeder Cable
uF - micro Farad
UHF - Ultra High Frequency
UHV - Ultra High Vacuum
UJT - UniJunction Transistor
UL - Underwriters' Laboratories
ULSI - Ultra Large Scale Integration
UML - Unified Modeling Language
UNC - Universal Naming Convention
UPC - Universal Product Code
UPnP - Universal Plug and Play
UPS - Uninteruptible Power Supply
URI - Uniform Resource Identifier
URL - Uniform Resource Locator
USART - Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
USB - Universal Serial Bus
USE - Underground Service-Entrance Cable
USOC - Uniform Service Order Code
UTC - Universal Time Code
UTP - Unshielded Twisted Pair
VA - Volt Ampere
VAC - Volts Alternating Current
VAR - Variable
YAG - Yttrium Aluminum Garnet
VCD - Variable Capacitance Diode
VCO - Voltage Controlled Oscillator
VCI - Virtual Channel Identifier
VDC - Volts Direct Current
VF - Vacuum Fluorecent
VFAT - Virtual File Allocation Table
VFC - Voltage to Frequency Converter
VFO - Variable Frequency Oscillator
VGA - Video Graphics Array
VHF - Very High Frequency
VLSI - Very Large Scale Integration
YIG - Yttrium Iron Garnet
VLB - VESA Local Bus
VLF - Very Low Frequency
VLSI - Very Large Scale Integration
VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol
VOM - Volt Ohmmeter
VPI - Virtual Path Identifier
VPN - Virtual Private Network
VR - Voltage Regulator
VRAM - Video Random Access Memory
VRML - Virtual Reality Modeling Language
VS - Vertical Sync
VT - Virtual Terminal
VTM - Voltage Tunable Magnetron
VTVM - Vacuum Tube Volt Meter
VXO - Variable crystal Oscilator
WAIS - Wide Area Information Server
WAN - Wide Area Network
WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy
Wi-Fi - Wireless Fidelity
WP - Word Processor
WPA - Wi-Fi Protected Access
WV - Working Voltage
WWW - World Wide Web
XHTML - Extensible Hypertext Markup Language
XSLT - Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformative
XTAL - crystal
ZD - Zero Defects
ZIF - Zero Insertion Force
Here is a selection of the most significant electricians' books available online today, at the best prices around. Clicking on any logo provides access to reviews and ratings by electricians. A good place to start is with the 2008 NEC Handbook, which contains the complete text of the current code plus extensive commentary, diagrams and illustrations. Other books of interest for the electrician are available as well.
