FT
Abbreviation with 6 meanings
| Stands for | Foot |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 6 |
| Categories | Units & Measurements, Geography & Places, Sports, Organizations & Companies, Military |
| Also written | ft, Ft. |
FT has six meanings. The most common are Foot (US customary and imperial unit) and Fort (geographic feature); it can also stand for Full-time, Free throw, Financial Times and Fire Control Technician.
Meanings of FT at a glance
| # | FT stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foot | Units & Measurements › US Customary and Imperial Unit |
| 2 | Fort | Geography & Places › Geographic Feature |
| 3 | Full-time | Sports › Soccer (Association Football) |
| 4 | Free throw | Sports › Basketball |
| 5 | Financial Times | Organizations & Companies › Media and Broadcasting |
| 6 | Fire Control Technician | Military › US Navy and Coast Guard Rating |
1. Foot (ft)
Units & Measurements · US Customary and Imperial Unit Abbreviations
Twelve inches, defined as exactly 0.3048 meter. Height, room dimensions, building codes and aviation altitudes are given in feet in the United States, and pilots worldwide report altitude in feet.
Example: The ceiling is 9 ft high, so a standard 8-foot ladder will reach it.
Height is written with a prime symbol, as in 5'10" for five feet ten inches. For most US land surveying, the slightly different US survey foot (1200/3937 m) was officially retired at the end of 2022 in favor of the international foot. The plural is still abbreviated ft, never fts.
2. Fort (Ft.)
Geography & Places · Geographic Feature Abbreviations
Shortens Fort in the names of military posts and the cities that grew around them, such as Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Worth, Ft. Myers and Ft. Collins. USPS uses FT in place names and street suffixes.
Example: Flights to Ft. Lauderdale are cheaper than to Miami this weekend.
AP style spells out Fort in city names and military installations (Fort Worth, Fort Knox). Many US cities, such as Fort Wayne and Fort Smith, began as frontier outposts. In lowercase ft means foot or feet.
3. Full-time
Sports · Soccer (Association Football) Abbreviations · also used in business and general use
End of a match after regulation time plus stoppage time, used in results listings to mark a final score. "FT: 2-1" means the game finished 2-1 within 90 minutes.
Example: FT: Liverpool 3, Everton 0.
In knockout games that go further, results show "AET" after extra time or a penalty note after a shootout. In basketball FT means free throw; in business, full-time employment.
4. Free throw
Sports · Basketball Abbreviations
Unguarded one-point shot taken from the free-throw line, 15 feet from the backboard, after a foul. Players shoot one to three free throws depending on the foul and the situation.
Example: He iced the game with two FT in the final ten seconds.
Also called foul shots, and the line is nicknamed "the charity stripe". Stephen Curry and Steve Nash have career NBA percentages above 90. Teams sometimes foul poor shooters intentionally, a tactic nicknamed "Hack-a-Shaq". In soccer FT means full-time.
5. Financial Times
Organizations & Companies · Media and Broadcasting Abbreviations
British daily newspaper focused on business, economics and international affairs, printed on distinctive salmon-pink paper. Owned by Japan's Nikkei since 2015 and headquartered in London.
Example: The FT reported that the central bank was weighing another rate cut.
Founded in 1888; it began printing on pink paper in 1893 to stand out from rivals. The FTSE 100 share index takes its name from the FT and the London Stock Exchange, which created it. Pearson sold the paper to Nikkei for about 844 million pounds.
6. Fire Control Technician
Military · US Navy and Coast Guard Rating Abbreviations
Submarine specialists who operate and maintain the combat control systems that track targets and launch torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles. They work with sonar technicians in the submarine control room during tactical operations.
Example: FT2 Mendez entered the firing solution while the sonar team held contact.
FTs are submarine-only, unlike the surface fire controlman (FC). Like other submarine ratings, they must earn the dolphins insignia by qualifying on the boat's systems. FT is also the common abbreviation for full-time in job listings and for the Financial Times newspaper.
Related abbreviations
More US customary and imperial unit abbreviations
- cwt – Hundredweight
- dr – Dram
- dwt – Pennyweight
- fl oz – Fluid ounce
- ftm – Fathom
- fur – Furlong
- gal – Gallon
- gi – Gill
See all 43 US customary and imperial unit abbreviations →