AL
Abbreviation with 4 meanings
| Stands for | Alabama |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 4 |
| Categories | Geography & Places, Science & Engineering, Sports |
| Also written | Al |
AL has four meanings. The most common are Alabama (US state) and Aluminum (chemical element); it can also stand for American League and Albania.
Meanings of AL at a glance
| # | AL stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | Geography & Places › US State |
| 2 | Aluminum | Science & Engineering › Chemical Element |
| 3 | American League | Sports › Baseball |
| 4 | Albania | Geography & Places › Country Code |
1. Alabama
Geography & Places · US State Abbreviations
Deep South state on the Gulf of Mexico, admitted as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819. Montgomery is the capital, Huntsville became the largest city in the 2020 census, and the nicknames Yellowhammer State and Heart of Dixie appear on state materials and license plates.
Example: Mail the signed form to the county clerk in Mobile, AL 36602, by Friday.
Alabama's traditional and AP abbreviation is Ala., still used by AP in datelines, photo captions and party labels such as R-Ala., although AP has spelled state names out in story text since 2014. The two-letter AL dates from the Post Office's 1963 list. It is frequently mistaken for Alaska, which is AK, and AL is also the ISO country code for Albania.
2. Aluminum (Al)
Science & Engineering · Chemical Element Abbreviations
The most abundant metal in Earth's crust, about 8% by mass, aluminum (atomic number 13) is light, protected from corrosion by its own oxide skin, and endlessly recyclable. It is smelted from bauxite-derived alumina by the Hall-Héroult electrolytic process and ends up in beverage cans, aircraft, window frames and power lines.
Example: The frame is 6061-T6 Al, anodized black and welded at the head tube.
Humphry Davy proposed the names alumium and then aluminum around 1808-1812; the -ium ending later became standard in Britain and is the official IUPAC spelling, while North America kept aluminum. Hans Christian Ørsted produced the first impure metal in 1825. Before Charles Martin Hall and Paul Héroult independently invented cheap electrolysis in 1886, aluminum was more costly than silver.
3. American League
Sports · Baseball Abbreviations
One of MLB's two leagues, with 15 teams in East, Central and West divisions. Its champion, decided in the ALCS, meets the National League champion in the World Series.
Example: The AL East race came down to the final weekend of the season.
Founded in 1901 by Ban Johnson, it declared itself a major league in competition with the National League; the first modern World Series followed in 1903. The AL introduced the designated hitter in 1973. The Houston Astros moved from the NL to the AL in 2013. In geography AL is the postal code for Alabama.
4. Albania
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
Albania, called Shqipëria by its people, appears as AL on the .al domain and in shipping systems, with ALB as the alpha-3 code. Tirana is the capital of the Balkan country, which faces both the Adriatic and Ionian seas.
Example: Ferry tickets from Bari to Durrës list the arrival country as AL.
In US addresses AL is Alabama, so international forms must make the context clear. The ISO 639-1 code for the Albanian language is sq, from Shqip, not al.
Related abbreviations
More US state abbreviations
- AK – Alaska
- AR – Arkansas
- AZ – Arizona
- CA – California
- CO – Colorado
- CT – Connecticut
- DC – District of Columbia
- DE – Delaware
See all 51 US state abbreviations →