AP
Abbreviation with 13 meanings
| Stands for | Advanced Placement |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 13 |
| Categories | Education & Academia, Business & Finance, Organizations & Companies, Medical, Geography & Places, Units & Measurements, Writing & Everyday, Technology & Computing, Texting & Internet Slang, Transportation & Travel |
AP has 13 meanings. The most common are Advanced Placement (standardized test) and Accounts payable (accounting); it can also stand for Associated Press, Anteroposterior, Armed Forces Pacific, All-purpose (flour) and Associated Press Stylebook, plus 6 more listed below.
Meanings of AP at a glance
| # | AP stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Advanced Placement | Education & Academia › Standardized Test |
| 2 | Accounts payable | Business & Finance › Accounting |
| 3 | Associated Press | Organizations & Companies › Media and Broadcasting |
| 4 | Anteroposterior | Medical › Medical Imaging |
| 5 | Armed Forces Pacific | Geography & Places › US Territory and Military Mail |
| 6 | All-purpose (flour) | Units & Measurements › Cooking |
| 7 | Associated Press Stylebook | Writing & Everyday › Citation and Bibliography |
| 8 | Acute pancreatitis | Medical › Gastroenterology |
| 9 | Apical pulse | Medical › Patient Assessment |
| 10 | Access point (wireless) | Technology & Computing › Networking |
| 11 | Ability power | Texting & Internet Slang › Gaming Slang |
| 12 | Associate professor | Education & Academia › Academic |
| 13 | Autopilot | Transportation & Travel › Aviation |
1. Advanced Placement
Education & Academia · Standardized Test Abbreviations
College Board program of about 40 college-level courses taught in high schools, each ending in a May exam scored from 1 to 5. Many colleges grant credit or placement for scores of 3 or higher, though selective universities often require a 4 or 5 or limit how the credit can be used.
Example: She took five AP exams junior year and earned credit for AP Calculus BC and AP Biology.
The College Board took over the program in 1955. Since 2025 most AP exams have been taken in the Bluebook app, with some math and science free-response answers still handwritten. Students scoring 3 or higher on several exams can earn AP Scholar awards. AP is also the Associated Press, whose AP Stylebook governs news writing.
2. Accounts payable
Business & Finance · Accounting Abbreviations
Money a company owes to suppliers for goods and services bought on credit, recorded as a current liability on the balance sheet. The AP department processes invoices, matches them to purchase orders and receipts, and schedules payments.
Example: AP is holding all vendor payments until the new bank details are verified by phone.
Also written A/P. The standard control is the "three-way match" of purchase order, receiving document and invoice before payment. AP balances are analyzed with days payable outstanding (DPO). Business email compromise scams frequently target AP teams with fake requests to change supplier bank details. Outside accounting, AP is best known as the Associated Press.
3. Associated Press
Organizations & Companies · Media and Broadcasting Abbreviations
American nonprofit news cooperative and one of the world's largest news agencies, supplying text, photos, video and election results to thousands of news outlets. Headquartered in New York City.
Example: The AP called the race shortly after midnight Eastern time.
Formed in 1846 by five New York newspapers to share the cost of gathering news of the Mexican-American War. Its AP Stylebook, first published in 1953, is the standard style guide for American journalism. AP election-night race calls are relied on by most US media. AP photographers and reporters have won dozens of Pulitzer Prizes.
4. Anteroposterior
Medical · Medical Imaging Abbreviations
Radiographic direction in which X-rays pass from front to back, with the detector behind the patient. Portable chest films in bed-bound or critically ill patients are AP, as are many trauma, pelvis and extremity views.
Example: Portable AP chest: ETT 4 cm above the carina, right IJ line tip at the cavoatrial junction.
AP chest films magnify the heart and mediastinum because the heart sits farther from the detector, so cardiomegaly cannot be reliably called on an AP view. The adjective also describes diameters and directions in anatomy and physical exams. In gastroenterology AP means acute pancreatitis.
5. Armed Forces Pacific
Geography & Places · US Territory and Military Mail Abbreviations
State-position code for military and diplomatic mail to the Pacific region, including bases in Japan and South Korea and ships of the Pacific Fleet, with ZIP codes from 962 to 966. It is paired with APO, FPO or DPO, as in APO AP 96205.
Example: FPO AP 96601 is printed on every letter the crew receives during the deployment.
AP is easily confused with the Associated Press and with Advanced Placement courses, but in an address line it always follows APO, FPO or DPO. Hawaii, Alaska and Guam addresses use their own codes (HI, AK, GU) rather than AP.
6. All-purpose (flour)
Units & Measurements · Cooking Abbreviations
In recipes AP almost always modifies flour: AP flour is the general wheat flour of American baking, with roughly 10 to 12 percent protein, between low-protein cake flour and high-protein bread flour.
Example: Sift 2 cups AP flour with the baking powder and salt.
The British equivalent is plain flour, while self-rising (UK self-raising) flour is AP flour with baking powder and salt already mixed in. Bleached and unbleached AP flours can usually be swapped in home baking. Restaurant prep lists use AP so routinely that "AP" alone often means flour.
7. Associated Press Stylebook
Writing & Everyday · Citation and Bibliography Abbreviations
Names the style guide of the Associated Press news agency, the standard for most US newspapers, broadcasters, public relations writers and many websites. It governs abbreviations, numbers, titles and punctuation in news copy.
Example: AP style omits the serial comma in simple series and spells out state names in the body of a story.
The stylebook is revised every year and published online as well as in print. Since 2014 it has called for spelling out state names in story text. Notable updates include lowercasing "internet" in 2016 and accepting singular "they" in limited cases in 2017. The same initials name the news agency itself.
8. Acute pancreatitis
Medical · Gastroenterology Abbreviations
Sudden inflammation of the pancreas, most often caused by gallstones or alcohol, diagnosed when two of three criteria are met: typical epigastric pain radiating to the back, lipase at least three times normal, or characteristic imaging. Early management is aggressive but goal-directed IV fluids, pain control and early feeding.
Example: AP secondary to gallstones, lipase 2,400; lactated Ringer's at 1.5 mL/kg/h, cholecystectomy before discharge.
In most radiology and anatomy contexts AP means anteroposterior, as in an AP chest film, so GI notes usually write "acute pancreatitis" or "AP" only after defining it. Severity is classified by the revised Atlanta criteria (2012) as mild, moderately severe or severe. Hypertriglyceridemia above about 1,000 mg/dL is the third leading cause.
9. Apical pulse
Medical · Patient Assessment Abbreviations
Heartbeat counted with a stethoscope at the apex of the heart, normally at the fifth intercostal space in the left midclavicular line, for a full minute. It is the most accurate bedside heart rate and is standard in infants.
Example: AP 58, digoxin held per parameters; provider notified.
Nurses commonly check it before giving digoxin, which is typically held in adults with a rate below 60. Comparing the apical and radial pulses at the same time reveals a pulse deficit. In gastroenterology AP means acute pancreatitis, and in radiography it means anteroposterior view.
10. Access point (wireless)
Technology & Computing · Networking Abbreviations
A device that broadcasts a Wi-Fi network and bridges wireless clients onto a wired LAN. Home routers contain a built-in AP, while offices mount dedicated ceiling units, powered over Ethernet and managed centrally, to cover large spaces evenly.
Example: Add a second AP on the third floor; the conference room signal is too weak.
Also called a wireless access point (WAP). Mesh systems use several APs that link to each other wirelessly instead of by cable. A "rogue AP" is an unauthorized access point plugged into a corporate network. In other fields AP means Associated Press or Advanced Placement, but in network diagrams and Wi-Fi survey reports it almost always means the radio device.
11. Ability power
Texting & Internet Slang · Gaming Slang Abbreviations
Magic damage stat in League of Legends that increases the strength of abilities, contrasted with AD (attack damage). Champions are labeled "AP" or "AD."
Example: Their mid is AP, so build magic resist.
Mages and some junglers scale with AP. "AP" also means action points in strategy games, Associated Press in journalism and Advanced Placement in education, which context distinguishes.
12. Associate professor
Education & Academia · Academic Abbreviations
Mid-level faculty rank between assistant professor and full professor, usually reached with the award of tenure in the US. Associate professors typically have an established research record and take on more committee, mentoring and administrative work.
Example: She was promoted to AP with tenure after six years at the university.
The abbreviation is common on CVs, in medical schools and in Asian universities, but can be ambiguous: in India and some other countries AP is used for assistant professor. Writing "Assoc. Prof." avoids confusion. In high schools, AP almost always means Advanced Placement.
13. Autopilot
Transportation & Travel · Aviation Abbreviations
System that controls an aircraft's flight path automatically, holding heading, altitude, speed or a programmed route, and on airliners capable of flying an approach and landing. Pilots can disconnect it instantly with a button on the control wheel or sidestick.
Example: AP disconnected with a warning wail as the turbulence exceeded its limits, and the captain hand-flew the descent.
Lawrence Sperry demonstrated a gyroscopic autopilot in Paris in 1914. Airliners use dual or triple autopilots for autoland. Labels vary: Airbus panels show "AP," Boeing panels "A/P." Confusion over which autopilot mode is active is a recurring factor in incidents and accidents.
Related abbreviations
More standardized test abbreviations
- ACCESS – Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State…
- ACT – ACT (originally American College Testing)
- AFQT – Armed Forces Qualification Test
- AICE – Advanced International Certificate of Education
- AS level – Advanced Subsidiary level
- ASVAB – Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
- ATAR – Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
- Bac – Baccalauréat
See all 106 standardized test abbreviations →
More accounting abbreviations
- AFS – Available for sale
- AICPA – American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- AJE – Adjusting journal entry
- AOCI – Accumulated other comprehensive income
- AR – Accounts receivable
- ASC – Accounting Standards Codification
- ASU – Accounting Standards Update
- B/S – Balance sheet
See all 95 accounting abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.