ABC
Abbreviation with 5 meanings
| Stands for | American Broadcasting Company |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 5 |
| Categories | Organizations & Companies, Medical, Business & Finance |
ABC has five meanings. The most common are American Broadcasting Company (media and broadcasting) and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (media and broadcasting); it can also stand for Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale, Activity-based costing and Abacavir.
Meanings of ABC at a glance
| # | ABC stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Broadcasting Company | Organizations & Companies › Media and Broadcasting |
| 2 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Organizations & Companies › Media and Broadcasting |
| 3 | Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale | Medical › Rehabilitation |
| 4 | Activity-based costing | Business & Finance › Accounting |
| 5 | Abacavir | Medical › Drug |
1. American Broadcasting Company
Organizations & Companies · Media and Broadcasting Abbreviations
One of the "Big Three" US commercial broadcast television networks, airing ABC News, Good Morning America, World News Tonight and entertainment series. It has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996.
Example: The game airs Saturday night on ABC and streams on ESPN.
Created after the Federal Communications Commission forced NBC to sell one of its two radio networks; the NBC Blue Network was sold in 1943 and became the American Broadcasting Company in 1945. Capital Cities Communications bought ABC in 1985, and Disney acquired Capital Cities/ABC in 1996. In Australia ABC means a different broadcaster.
2. Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Organizations & Companies · Media and Broadcasting Abbreviations
Australia's national public broadcaster, running television channels, radio networks including Triple J, ABC News and the ABC iview streaming service. Funded by the federal government and nicknamed "Aunty".
Example: The ABC will broadcast the New Year's Eve fireworks from Sydney Harbour.
Founded on July 1, 1932, as the Australian Broadcasting Commission and reconstituted as a corporation in 1983. Its charter requires independence from government. Not to be confused with the American Broadcasting Company in the United States.
3. Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale
Medical · Rehabilitation Abbreviations
Sixteen-item questionnaire in which people rate their confidence, from 0 to 100 percent, that they will not lose balance during activities such as reaching, using stairs or walking on icy sidewalks.
Example: ABC 54 percent; fear of falling limiting community outings.
Developed by Lynda Powell and Anita Myers in 1995. Scores below about 67 percent are associated with higher fall risk in older adults. Fear of falling can restrict activity even without previous falls, so the ABC complements performance tests.
4. Activity-based costing
Business & Finance · Accounting Abbreviations
Cost accounting method that assigns overhead costs to products and services according to the activities they consume, such as machine setups, orders processed or inspections, rather than spreading overhead by labor hours or volume. It reveals which products and customers are truly profitable.
Example: ABC showed that small custom orders, not the high-volume lines, were eating most of the setup costs.
Developed and popularized in the 1980s by Robert Kaplan and Robin Cooper at Harvard Business School. Because ABC is costly to maintain, Kaplan later proposed a simpler time-driven version (TDABC). ABC is also a US television network and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
5. Abacavir
Medical · Drug Abbreviations
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for HIV, found in Triumeq and Epzicom. Before starting it, patients are tested for the HLA-B*57:01 gene, which predicts a potentially fatal hypersensitivity reaction.
Example: HLA-B*57:01 negative; start ABC/3TC/DTG (Triumeq) daily.
Abacavir hypersensitivity causes fever, rash, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms, and patients who react must never be rechallenged. Genetic screening introduced around 2008 virtually eliminated true reactions. Some studies linked abacavir to a higher risk of heart attack, so it is often avoided in people with high cardiovascular risk.
Related abbreviations
More media and broadcasting abbreviations
- AFP – Agence France-Presse
- AMC – American Movie Classics
- AP – Associated Press
- ARD – Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der…
- BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation
- BET – Black Entertainment Television
- C-SPAN – Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network
- CBC – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
See all 53 media and broadcasting abbreviations →
More rehabilitation abbreviations
- 5xSTS – Five Times Sit to Stand Test
- 6MWT – Six-minute walk test
- AAC – Augmentative and alternative communication
- AAROM – Active-assisted range of motion
- AD – Assistive device
- ADL – Activities of daily living
- AFO – Ankle-foot orthosis
- AKA – Above-knee amputation
See all 98 rehabilitation abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.