dim
Abbreviation with 4 meanings
| Stands for | Dimension |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 4 |
| Categories | Units & Measurements, Business & Finance, Arts & Entertainment, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | DIM, dim. |
dim has four meanings. The most common are Dimension (math) and Dimensional weight (logistics, supply chain & trade); it can also stand for Diminuendo and Diminutive.
Meanings of dim at a glance
| # | dim stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dimension | Units & Measurements › Math |
| 2 | Dimensional weight | Business & Finance › Logistics, Supply Chain & Trade |
| 3 | Diminuendo | Arts & Entertainment › Music |
| 4 | Diminutive | Writing & Everyday › Grammar and Dictionary |
1. Dimension
Units & Measurements · Math Abbreviations
The number of vectors in a basis of a vector space, written dim V. Ordinary three-dimensional space has dim 3, and the space of 2 × 2 matrices has dim 4.
Example: Since dim ker T = 2 and dim V = 5, the rank of T is 3.
The rank-nullity theorem states that dim V = rank T + dim ker T for a linear map T defined on V. In data science, "high-dimensional" data has many features. In Visual Basic, Dim is the keyword that declares variables, an unrelated use.
2. Dimensional weight (DIM)
Business & Finance · Logistics, Supply Chain & Trade Abbreviations
Billable weight calculated from a package's volume, length times width times height divided by a carrier's divisor, used when it exceeds the actual weight, so carriers are paid fairly for light but bulky parcels.
Example: The pillow weighs 3 pounds, but its DIM weight is 18, so that's what we're billed.
FedEx and UPS use a divisor of 139 for US domestic parcels measured in inches and pounds, while USPS uses 166 for larger packages. Right-sizing boxes is the main way shippers cut DIM charges.
3. Diminuendo (dim.)
Arts & Entertainment · Music Abbreviations
Instruction to gradually decrease loudness, written as the abbreviation or as a closing hairpin wedge. Decrescendo (decresc.) means the same thing.
Example: The phrase ends with dim. to nothing as the lights fade.
Italian for "diminishing". "Morendo", meaning dying away, adds slowing as well as softening. Performers shape diminuendos to create the sense of a phrase ending.
4. Diminutive (dim.)
Writing & Everyday · Grammar and Dictionary Abbreviations
Marks a form that indicates smallness, youth or affection, usually built with a suffix such as -let, -ling, -ette or -ie, as in "booklet," "duckling" and "doggie."
Example: kitchenette (n.) dim. of kitchen, a small cooking area in an apartment or office
Diminutive suffixes are far more productive in Spanish (-ito), Italian (-ino) and German (-chen) than in English. English nicknames often use them too, as in "Johnny" and "Annie." In music, dim. abbreviates diminuendo, a direction to grow softer, an unrelated sense.
Related abbreviations
More math abbreviations
- CPCTC – Corresponding parts of congruent triangles are congruent
- csc – Cosecant
- deg – Degree (angle)
- det – Determinant
- exp – Exponential function
- FOIL – First, Outer, Inner, Last
- FTC – Fundamental theorem of calculus
- GCD – Greatest common divisor
See all 91 math abbreviations →