MD
Abbreviation with 8 meanings
| Stands for | Doctor of Medicine |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 8 |
| Categories | Education & Academia, Geography & Places, Business & Finance, Technology & Computing, Sports, Science & Engineering |
| Also written | Md |
MD has eight meanings. The most common are Doctor of Medicine (degree) and Maryland (US state); it can also stand for Managing director, Markdown, Moldova, MiniDisc and Majority decision, plus 1 more listed below.
Meanings of MD at a glance
| # | MD stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doctor of Medicine | Education & Academia › Degree |
| 2 | Maryland | Geography & Places › US State |
| 3 | Managing director | Business & Finance › Job Title |
| 4 | Markdown | Technology & Computing › File Format |
| 5 | Moldova | Geography & Places › Country Code |
| 6 | MiniDisc | Technology & Computing › Consumer Electronics |
| 7 | Majority decision | Sports › Other Sports |
| 8 | Mendelevium | Science & Engineering › Chemical Element |
1. Doctor of Medicine
Education & Academia · Degree Abbreviations · also used in medicine
Medical degree earned in the United States and Canada after four years at a school accredited by the LCME, following a bachelor's degree and the MCAT. Graduates must pass the USMLE exams and complete a residency of three to seven years before practicing independently in a specialty.
Example: Elena Ruiz, MD, joined the cardiology group after finishing her fellowship at Mayo Clinic.
AP style writes M.D. and uses "Dr." on first reference for physicians, but never "Dr." and "M.D." together. The Latin original is Medicinae Doctor. In the UK and Ireland the MD is a research higher degree earned by practicing doctors whose primary degree is the MBBS, and in India it is a three-year postgraduate specialty degree.
2. Maryland
Geography & Places · US State Abbreviations
Mid-Atlantic state that ratified the Constitution on April 28, 1788, as the seventh state and later ceded the land that became Washington, D.C. Annapolis is the capital and Baltimore the largest city; the Old Line State wraps around most of Chesapeake Bay, famous for blue crabs.
Example: Return the signed lease to our leasing office in Bethesda, MD 20814.
Traditional and AP abbreviation: Md., the same letters as the code, used by AP in datelines and labels such as D-Md. The postal code arrived in 1963. MD far more often means Doctor of Medicine, so a name followed by MD is a physician, not a Marylander. Mix-ups with MA, ME and MO are frequent, and MD is also Moldova's ISO code (.md).
3. Managing director
Business & Finance · Job Title Abbreviations
Senior executive title with two main uses: in the UK, Ireland, India and other Commonwealth countries, the MD is the top executive of a company, equivalent to a CEO; in investment banks, private equity firms and consultancies, MD is the most senior rank below partner or executive leadership. Country and industry tell which applies.
Example: After 12 years at the bank, she made MD and now leads its technology M&A team.
In UK company law, the MD is a director appointed to run the business day to day. On Wall Street, the MD rank sits above director (or senior vice president) and carries responsibility for client relationships and deal origination; banks announce their new MD class each year. In the United States, MD most often means Doctor of Medicine.
4. Markdown
Technology & Computing · File Format Abbreviations
Lightweight markup language and file type (.md) that formats plain text with simple symbols, such as # for headings, asterisks for emphasis and dashes for lists, which convert to HTML. It is the standard for README files, documentation, wikis and note-taking apps.
Example: Every repository should have a README.md explaining how to install and run the project.
John Gruber created Markdown in 2004 with input from Aaron Swartz, aiming for text that reads naturally even before conversion. Ambiguities in the original led to many dialects, prompting the CommonMark specification in 2014 and GitHub Flavored Markdown. Apps such as Obsidian, Notion exports, Reddit and Discord use Markdown-style formatting, and AI chatbots often reply in it.
5. Moldova
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
Moldova, capital Chișinău, alpha-3 MDA, became an EU candidate country in 2022. Its .md domain has been marketed to doctors, because MD means Doctor of Medicine in the United States.
Example: Wine from MD is aged in the vast underground cellars of Mileștii Mici.
Transnistria, a breakaway strip along the Ukrainian border, is not controlled by the Moldovan government. In US addresses MD means Maryland.
6. MiniDisc
Technology & Computing · Consumer Electronics Abbreviations
Sony's small recordable magneto-optical disc format, launched in 1992, that stored about 74 to 80 minutes of digitally compressed audio in a protective cartridge. It was popular for portable music and recording in Japan and Europe.
Example: In 2001 I recorded every school concert on a MiniDisc recorder; the MD still plays.
MiniDisc used Sony's ATRAC compression, and later Hi-MD discs held up to 1 GB. Although it outperformed cassette tapes, it was overtaken by CD burners and MP3 players. Sony stopped selling MiniDisc players in 2013 and ended production of blank discs in 2025. The format retains a cult following. In file formats, MD means Markdown.
7. Majority decision
Sports · Other Sports Abbreviations
Fight result in which two judges score the bout for one fighter and the third scores it a draw. It ranks between a unanimous and a split decision in clarity.
Example: The champion retained his belt by MD after a close 12 rounds.
A majority draw occurs when two judges score it even and one favors a fighter. In medicine MD means Doctor of Medicine, and in US geography Maryland.
8. Mendelevium (Md)
Science & Engineering · Chemical Element Abbreviations
Mendelevium (element 101) was the first element identified one atom at a time: in 1955 a Berkeley team bombarded a nearly invisible speck of einsteinium with alpha particles and detected just 17 atoms over several experiments. Its isotopes are short-lived, and it is studied only for research.
Example: Ion-exchange chemistry confirmed that Md behaves like a typical heavy actinide in solution.
Albert Ghiorso, Bernard Harvey, Gregory Choppin, Stanley Thompson and Glenn Seaborg announced the discovery in 1955. They named it after Dmitri Mendeleev, creator of the periodic table; Seaborg later recalled that honoring a Russian scientist during the Cold War required the US government's approval.
Related abbreviations
More degree abbreviations
- MBA – Master of Business Administration
- MBBS – Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
- MCh – Magister Chirurgiae (Master of Surgery)
- MCP – Master of City Planning
- MD-PhD – Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy
- MDiv – Master of Divinity
- MEd – Master of Education
- MEM – Master of Engineering Management
See all 139 degree abbreviations →