AB
Abbreviation with 9 meanings
| Stands for | Alberta |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 9 |
| Categories | Geography & Places, Education & Academia, Military, Sports, Government & Politics, Business & Finance, Medical |
AB has nine meanings. The most common are Alberta (Canadian province and territory) and Artium Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Arts) (degree); it can also stand for Able Seaman, Airman Basic, At bats, Assembly Bill and Aktiebolag (limited company), plus 2 more listed below.
Meanings of AB at a glance
| # | AB stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alberta | Geography & Places › Canadian Province and Territory |
| 2 | Artium Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Arts) | Education & Academia › Degree |
| 3 | Able Seaman | Military › British Military Rank |
| 4 | Airman Basic | Military › US Air Force and Space Force Rank |
| 5 | At bats | Sports › Baseball |
| 6 | Assembly Bill | Government & Politics › Political |
| 7 | Aktiebolag (limited company) | Business & Finance › Company Type |
| 8 | Aviation Boatswain's Mate | Military › US Navy and Coast Guard Rating |
| 9 | Therapeutically equivalent rating (Orange Book code) | Medical › Pharmacy |
1. Alberta
Geography & Places · Canadian Province and Territory Abbreviations
Prairie province that joined Confederation on September 1, 1905, together with Saskatchewan. Edmonton is the capital and Calgary the largest city, the oil sands make it the center of Canada's petroleum industry, and it is the only province with no provincial sales tax.
Example: Please forward the documents to our Calgary AB T2P 1J9 office.
The traditional abbreviation is Alta., used in Canadian Press datelines (RED DEER, Alta.). Alberta postal codes begin with T. AB also means Bachelor of Arts at some US universities (from Latin artium baccalaureus) and appears in many other contexts, so the postal code is clearest next to a postal code or city.
2. Artium Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Arts)
Education & Academia · Degree Abbreviations
Latin word-order form of the Bachelor of Arts awarded by Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth and several other older American colleges. The coursework and value are identical to a BA; only the order of the Latin words on the diploma differs.
Example: Michelle Obama earned an AB in sociology from Princeton in 1985.
Written A.B. in AP style. Schools that use AB usually also use AM for the master of arts, and Harvard and MIT use SB and SM for science degrees. Recruiters and graduate schools treat AB and BA as the same degree, so either can appear on a résumé.
3. Able Seaman
Military · British Military Rank Abbreviations · also used in transportation
Royal Navy rating at NATO grade OR-2, held by sailors who have completed basic and specialist training. Able seamen serve in branches such as warfare, engineering, logistics and medical, and the title also names a qualified deck crew member in merchant shipping.
Example: AB Jones joined HMS Dragon as a warfare specialist straight from HMS Raleigh.
Short for "able-bodied seaman," an old rating for an experienced sailor fit for all deck duties. Royal Navy recruits train at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall. In the US Air Force AB means Airman Basic, and in the US Navy it is the aviation boatswain's mate rating.
4. Airman Basic
Military · US Air Force and Space Force Rank Abbreviations
Lowest enlisted rank in the US Air Force, pay grade E-1, worn with no insignia. Nearly every new airman starts as an AB at Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, the service's single enlisted boot camp.
Example: AB Johnson graduated from Basic Military Training and shipped to tech school at Sheppard.
Promotion to Airman normally follows after six months of service, and recruits with college credit or JROTC can enlist at a higher grade. The Space Force equivalent is Specialist 1. In the Navy AB is the aviation boatswain's mate rating, and in the Royal Navy and merchant fleets it means able seaman.
5. At bats
Sports · Baseball Abbreviations
Official turns at bat used to calculate batting average, excluding walks, hit-by-pitches, sacrifices and catcher's interference. A box-score line shows AB first, followed by runs, hits and RBI.
Example: He went 3-for-4 with two doubles, meaning three hits in four AB.
Pete Rose holds the career record with 14,053 at-bats. "Went 2-for-4" means two hits in four at-bats. Because AB excludes walks, it is always smaller than plate appearances for patient hitters.
6. Assembly Bill
Government & Politics · Political Abbreviations
Prefix for bills introduced in a state assembly, the lower chamber's name in states such as California, Nevada and Wisconsin. California's AB 5 of 2019, for example, tightened the test for classifying workers as employees rather than independent contractors.
Example: Gig companies spent heavily to exempt their drivers from California's AB 5 at the ballot box.
In California, bill numbers restart every two-year session, and Senate bills use SB. New York and New Jersey also call their lower chambers the Assembly but number bills with a plain "A" prefix. Proposition 22 in 2020 exempted app-based drivers from AB 5.
7. Aktiebolag (limited company)
Business & Finance · Company Type Abbreviations
Swedish limited company form, used by both private companies and listed corporations, and also by Swedish-speaking companies in Finland. A Swedish private AB requires share capital of at least SEK 25,000.
Example: AB Volvo and Volvo Car AB are separate Swedish companies, one making trucks and the other cars.
Public Swedish companies add "(publ)" to the name and need at least SEK 500,000 in share capital. The suffix may appear before or after the name, as the two Volvo examples show. In Canadian addresses, AB is the postal abbreviation for Alberta.
8. Aviation Boatswain's Mate
Military · US Navy and Coast Guard Rating Abbreviations
Flight-deck specialists who move, launch, recover and fuel aircraft aboard carriers and amphibious ships. The rating splits into ABH (aircraft handling), ABE (launching and recovery equipment such as catapults and arresting gear) and ABF (aviation fuels).
Example: ABH2 Lewis taxied the Super Hornet onto catapult one using hand signals alone.
Flight-deck jersey colors identify them: ABH directors wear yellow and plane handlers blue, ABEs wear green and fuel handlers wear purple, earning the nickname "grapes." Outside naval aviation, AB means Airman Basic in the Air Force and Able Seaman in the Royal Navy and merchant shipping.
9. Therapeutically equivalent rating (Orange Book code)
Medical · Pharmacy Abbreviations
Two-letter code in the FDA's Orange Book showing whether a generic drug is therapeutically equivalent to its brand reference. Codes beginning with "A" mean the products can be substituted, and "AB" is the most common rating for oral solids.
Example: Levothyroxine from this manufacturer is AB1-rated to Synthroid, so we can substitute.
Codes beginning with "B" indicate the FDA does not consider the products therapeutically equivalent. When several reference products exist, numbered codes such as AB1, AB2 and AB3 show which generics match which brand; levothyroxine and nifedipine ER are classic examples. Most state substitution laws rely on Orange Book ratings.
Related abbreviations
More Canadian province and territory abbreviations
- Alta. – Alberta
- BC – British Columbia
- FSA – Forward sortation area
- LDU – Local delivery unit
- Man. – Manitoba
- MB – Manitoba
- NB – New Brunswick
- NF – Newfoundland
See all 26 Canadian province and territory abbreviations →
More degree abbreviations
- AA – Associate of Arts
- AAS – Associate of Applied Science
- AAT – Associate of Arts in Teaching
- ADN – Associate Degree in Nursing
- AFA – Associate of Fine Arts
- AGS – Associate in General Studies
- ALM – Artium Liberalium Magister (Master of Liberal Arts)
- AM – Artium Magister (Master of Arts)
See all 139 degree abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.