BSA
Abbreviation with 4 meanings
| Stands for | Boy Scouts of America |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 4 |
| Categories | Organizations & Companies, Medical, Government & Politics, Science & Engineering |
BSA has four meanings. The most common are Boy Scouts of America (nonprofit) and Body surface area (patient assessment); it can also stand for Bank Secrecy Act and Bovine serum albumin.
Meanings of BSA at a glance
| # | BSA stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boy Scouts of America | Organizations & Companies › Nonprofit |
| 2 | Body surface area | Medical › Patient Assessment |
| 3 | Bank Secrecy Act | Government & Politics › US Law |
| 4 | Bovine serum albumin | Science & Engineering › Biology |
1. Boy Scouts of America
Organizations & Companies · Nonprofit Abbreviations
US scouting organization for youth that teaches outdoor skills, leadership and citizenship through Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA and other programs, and awards the Eagle Scout rank. It changed its name to Scouting America in 2025.
Example: He earned his Eagle Scout rank in the BSA troop sponsored by the local church.
Founded in 1910 and based in Irving, Texas, it began admitting girls to Cub Scouts in 2018 and to its older-youth program in 2019. Facing tens of thousands of abuse claims, it filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and emerged under a multibillion-dollar settlement plan. The new name took effect in February 2025, the organization's 115th anniversary.
2. Body surface area
Medical · Patient Assessment Abbreviations
Estimated total surface area of the body in square meters, calculated from height and weight. It is used to dose chemotherapy and some other drugs and to index cardiac output and kidney function.
Example: BSA 1.82 m2; carboplatin dose verified by second pharmacist.
The Mosteller formula, the square root of height in centimeters times weight in kilograms divided by 3,600, is the most common. An average adult is roughly 1.7 to 1.9 square meters. Burn size is described differently, as a percentage of total body surface area (TBSA).
3. Bank Secrecy Act
Government & Politics · US Law Abbreviations · also used in business
Anti-money-laundering law of 1970 requiring banks and other financial institutions to keep records, file currency transaction reports for cash transactions over $10,000 and report suspicious activity. FinCEN administers it and bank regulators examine compliance.
Example: The bank's BSA officer filed a suspicious activity report on the repeated cash deposits.
Its formal name is the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act. Breaking up cash deposits to avoid the $10,000 report, called structuring, is itself a crime. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 expanded its requirements. In other contexts BSA refers to Boy Scouts of America.
4. Bovine serum albumin
Science & Engineering · Biology Abbreviations
Protein purified from cow blood and used throughout biology labs as a cheap, stable standard and blocking agent. BSA coats surfaces in ELISAs and Western blots to prevent antibodies sticking where they should not, stabilizes enzymes and serves as the reference protein in Bradford and BCA protein assays.
Example: Block the membrane for one hour in 5% BSA before adding the primary antibody.
Albumin is the most abundant protein in blood plasma; BSA has a molecular weight of about 66.5 kilodaltons. Phosphoprotein blots are often blocked with BSA rather than milk, which contains phosphoproteins. Outside the lab BSA often means Boy Scouts of America.
Related abbreviations
More nonprofit abbreviations
- BBB – Better Business Bureau
- BBBS – Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
- BGCA – Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- BLM – Black Lives Matter
- CAIR – Council on American-Islamic Relations
- CAP – Center for American Progress
- CARE – CARE International
- CBO – Community-based organization
See all 91 nonprofit abbreviations →
More patient assessment abbreviations
- BMI – Body mass index
- BP – Blood pressure
- BPS – Behavioral Pain Scale
- BS – Bowel sounds
- BUE – Bilateral upper extremities
- CAM-ICU – Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit
- CIWA-Ar – Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol, revised
- CMS – Circulation, motion, sensation
See all 65 patient assessment abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.