DA
Abbreviation with 10 meanings
| Stands for | District attorney |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 10 |
| Categories | Law & Legal, Government & Politics, Units & Measurements, Business & Finance, Texting & Internet Slang, Military, Transportation & Travel |
| Also written | Da, da |
DA has ten meanings. The most common are District attorney (court) and Democratic Alliance (world government); it can also stand for Dalton, Domain Authority, DeviantArt, Department of the Army and Direct action, plus 3 more listed below.
Meanings of DA at a glance
| # | DA stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | District attorney | Law & Legal › Court |
| 2 | Democratic Alliance | Government & Politics › World Government |
| 3 | Dalton | Units & Measurements › Metric and SI Unit |
| 4 | Domain Authority | Business & Finance › Marketing & Advertising |
| 5 | DeviantArt | Texting & Internet Slang › Fandom and Fan Fiction |
| 6 | Department of the Army | Military › Military Unit and Organization |
| 7 | Direct action | Military › Military Term |
| 8 | Decision altitude | Transportation & Travel › Aviation |
| 9 | Density altitude | Transportation & Travel › Aviation |
| 10 | Deca- (ten) | Units & Measurements › Metric and SI Unit |
1. District attorney
Law & Legal · Court Abbreviations
Elected or appointed prosecutor who brings criminal charges on behalf of the state in a county or judicial district and supervises a staff of assistant prosecutors. The DA decides whether to file charges, negotiates plea bargains and represents the government at trial in state court.
Example: The DA announced that her office would not seek the death penalty in the case.
Titles vary by state: State's Attorney (Illinois, Maryland), State Attorney (Florida), Prosecuting Attorney, County Attorney, Commonwealth's Attorney (Virginia, Kentucky) or Solicitor (South Carolina). Most DAs are elected, usually for four-year terms, an arrangement almost unique to the United States. Federal crimes are prosecuted by the US Attorney instead.
2. Democratic Alliance
Government & Politics · World Government Abbreviations
South Africa's main liberal party and second-largest party, which governs the Western Cape province and the city of Cape Town. It joined the ANC in the Government of National Unity formed in 2024.
Example: The DA retained control of Cape Town with an increased share of the vote.
It was formed in 2000 through a merger of the Democratic Party and the New National Party, which later left. It was the official opposition for most of the period from 1999 to 2024. In US criminal justice, DA means district attorney.
3. Dalton (Da)
Units & Measurements · Metric and SI Unit Abbreviations
A unit of molecular mass equal to the unified atomic mass unit, one twelfth the mass of a carbon-12 atom. Biochemists use it, mostly as kilodaltons (kDa), to give the size of proteins, antibodies and other large molecules.
Example: The antibody runs at about 150 kDa on the gel.
Named after English chemist John Dalton, who proposed modern atomic theory in the early 1800s. An IgG antibody is about 150 kDa and hemoglobin about 64 kDa. A mass of 1 Da per molecule corresponds numerically to 1 g/mol, so molecular weights in daltons and molar masses in grams per mole share the same number.
4. Domain Authority
Business & Finance · Marketing & Advertising Abbreviations
Score from 1 to 100 created by SEO software company Moz to predict how well a website is likely to rank, based mainly on the quantity and quality of links pointing to it. Higher scores are harder to increase because the scale is logarithmic.
Example: Outreach targets should have a DA above 40 and relevant traffic.
Domain Authority is a third-party metric, and Google has stated it does not use it. Link sellers sometimes manipulate DA, so experienced SEOs look at real traffic and relevance. Competing metrics include Ahrefs' Domain Rating and Semrush's Authority Score.
5. DeviantArt
Texting & Internet Slang · Fandom and Fan Fiction Abbreviations
Online art community where artists post fan art, original illustrations, photography and writing, organized into galleries with comments and favorites.
Example: Found my old 2009 fan art on DA and the anatomy is a crime.
Founded in 2000, DeviantArt was a central hub for fan artists in the 2000s and early 2010s, home to many original characters and art memes. Its influence declined as artists moved to Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter. In law, DA means district attorney.
6. Department of the Army
Military · Military Unit and Organization Abbreviations
Military department within the Department of Defense that organizes, trains and equips the US Army, headed by the civilian secretary of the Army. Army forms are numbered with the DA prefix, such as the DA Form 31 used to request leave.
Example: Submit the completed DA Form 4856 to the company commander for counseling records.
The Department of the Army was created in 1947, replacing the cabinet-level War Department. In operations, DA can also mean direct action, a type of special operations raid, and in civilian law it means district attorney. The other military departments are the Department of the Navy (DON) and the Department of the Air Force (DAF).
7. Direct action
Military · Military Term Abbreviations
Short-duration strikes and small-scale offensive actions by special operations forces, such as raids, ambushes and seizures, to capture, kill or destroy targets. Raids are typically planned in detail and executed quickly.
Example: The SEAL team trained for DA missions against maritime targets.
Direct action is one of the core activities assigned to US special operations forces, alongside special reconnaissance and unconventional warfare. In legal contexts, DA means district attorney, and in Army administration it means Department of the Army.
8. Decision altitude
Transportation & Travel · Aviation Abbreviations
Altitude above mean sea level on a precision or vertically guided approach at which the pilot must either have the required runway references in sight to continue or begin a missed approach. It is read on the altimeter and charted, for example, as 1,264 feet where the runway elevation is 1,064 feet.
Example: Minimums, no lights, going around; we reached DA at 1,264 feet with nothing in sight.
DA is referenced to sea level, while DH (decision height) is measured above the runway threshold and used with radio altimeters in Category II and III operations. Because a DA is reached while still descending, the aircraft dips slightly below it during a go-around, which is allowed, unlike an MDA. ICAO documents write the pair as DA/H.
9. Density altitude
Transportation & Travel · Aviation Abbreviations
Pressure altitude corrected for nonstandard temperature, representing the altitude the aircraft performs as if it were at. High density altitude on hot days at elevated airports reduces engine power, propeller efficiency and lift, lengthening takeoff rolls and cutting climb rates.
Example: Denver's DA hit 9,000 feet that August afternoon, so the Cessna needed nearly twice its usual takeoff roll.
A rule of thumb adds roughly 120 feet of density altitude for every degree Celsius above standard temperature, and humidity raises it slightly more. High density altitude is a recurring factor in mountain-airport accidents in Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. Context separates the two DA meanings: performance planning versus approach minimums.
10. Deca- (ten) (da)
Units & Measurements · Metric and SI Unit Abbreviations
Ten times the base unit, and the only SI prefix written with two letters. It is seldom used, although the decagram (dag) is a familiar grocery unit at deli counters in Poland, Austria and parts of Central Europe.
Example: Ask the deli for 20 dag of ham, which is 200 grams.
NIST publications in the United States spell it deka-, while most other English-language sources use deca-; both come from Greek deka, ten. Writing D or dk for the prefix is incorrect. The decameter (dam) is rarely seen because it looks like a word and is easily misread.
Related abbreviations
More court abbreviations
- D. Mass. – United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- D.C. Cir. – United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- D.D.C. – United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- D.N.J. – United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
- DDA – Deputy district attorney
- Del. Ch. – Delaware Court of Chancery
- E.D. Pa. – United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- E.D. Tex. – United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
See all 87 court abbreviations →
More world government abbreviations
- CRTC – Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
- CSIRO – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
- CSIS – Canadian Security Intelligence Service
- CSU – Christian Social Union in Bavaria
- DFAT – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- DGSE – General Directorate for External Security
- DMA – Digital Markets Act
- DSA – Digital Services Act
See all 103 world government abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.