p
Abbreviation with 10 meanings
| Stands for | p-value |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 10 |
| Categories | Units & Measurements, Writing & Everyday, Business & Finance, Medical, Science & Engineering, Sports, Arts & Entertainment |
| Also written | P, p. |
p has ten meanings. The most common are p-value (statistics) and Page (citation and bibliography); it can also stand for Penny (pence), Pulse, Peta- (quadrillion), Phosphorus and Pitcher, plus 3 more listed below.
Meanings of p at a glance
| # | p stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | p-value | Units & Measurements › Statistics |
| 2 | Page | Writing & Everyday › Citation and Bibliography |
| 3 | Penny (pence) | Business & Finance › Currency |
| 4 | Pulse | Medical › Patient Assessment |
| 5 | Peta- (quadrillion) | Units & Measurements › Metric and SI Unit |
| 6 | Phosphorus | Science & Engineering › Chemical Element |
| 7 | Pitcher | Sports › Baseball |
| 8 | Punter | Sports › American Football |
| 9 | Pico- (trillionth) | Units & Measurements › Metric and SI Unit |
| 10 | Piano (soft) | Arts & Entertainment › Music |
1. p-value
Units & Measurements · Statistics Abbreviations
The probability, assuming the null hypothesis is true, of obtaining a result at least as extreme as the one observed. Small p-values, commonly below 0.05, are taken as evidence against the null hypothesis.
Example: The difference between groups was statistically significant, t(58) = 2.41, p = .019.
A p-value is neither the probability that the null hypothesis is true nor a measure of effect size, two widespread misreadings. The 0.05 convention traces to Ronald Fisher's work in the 1920s. In 2016 the American Statistical Association issued a statement warning against relying on p < 0.05 alone. APA style italicizes p and omits the leading zero.
2. Page (p.)
Writing & Everyday · Citation and Bibliography Abbreviations
Points to a single page in citations, footnotes, indexes and cross-references, as in "p. 42." It is one of the most frequently used abbreviations in academic writing.
Example: The quotation appears in chapter 4 (p. 88) of the 1998 paperback edition.
APA uses p. and pp. in parenthetical citations, as in (Smith, 2020, p. 42); MLA omits them and gives just the number; Chicago omits them in notes unless the number could be misread. In British currency, p means pence, and in music p stands for piano, meaning soft.
3. Penny (pence)
Business & Finance · Currency Abbreviations
Abbreviation for the British penny and its plural pence, one hundredth of a pound since decimalization in 1971. Prices under a pound are written with p, as in 75p, and Britons often say "pee".
Example: The chocolate bar costs 85p at the corner shop.
Before 1971 a penny was 1/240 of a pound and was abbreviated d, from Latin denarius. The Royal Mint has paused minting one- and two-penny coins in some years as cash use declines. Before the euro, Ireland also wrote pence as p.
4. Pulse (P)
Medical · Patient Assessment Abbreviations
Rate of palpable arterial beats per minute, written as "P" in vital-sign strings and older graphic charts. Assessment also notes rhythm, strength and equality between sides.
Example: T 98.6 F, P 72 regular, R 16, BP 118/70.
Radial pulses are counted for 30 seconds and doubled if regular, or a full minute if irregular. Pulse strength is graded on scales such as 0 (absent) to 3+ (bounding), though systems differ. In chemistry P is phosphorus, and in genetics it labels the short arm of a chromosome.
5. Peta- (quadrillion) (P)
Units & Measurements · Metric and SI Unit Abbreviations
Peta- multiplies by 10^15, a thousand trillion. It appears mainly in computing (petabytes of storage, petaflops of processing power) and in energy statistics, where national energy use is tallied in petajoules.
Example: The observatory archives roughly 20 PB of telescope images every year.
Adopted in 1975 together with exa-. The name comes from Greek pente, five, because 10^15 is 1000 to the fifth power, with one letter dropped. Supercomputers passed the petaflops mark in 2008 with IBM's Roadrunner at Los Alamos. In binary computing, the pebibyte (PiB, 2^50 bytes) is its counterpart.
6. Phosphorus (P)
Science & Engineering · Chemical Element Abbreviations
Element 15 is essential to life: phosphate groups form the backbone of DNA and RNA and carry energy in ATP, and calcium phosphate hardens bones and teeth. Most mined phosphate rock goes into fertilizer. White phosphorus glows in air and ignites spontaneously, while the safer red form coats matchbox striking strips.
Example: Soil test results: P 12 ppm (low), K 145 ppm (adequate); apply phosphate before planting.
In 1669 Hamburg alchemist Hennig Brand obtained phosphorus by boiling down large quantities of urine, making it the first element discovered by a known individual. Its name is Greek phosphoros, "light-bearer," after the eerie glow of the white form. The element is spelled phosphorus; phosphorous is an adjective used in compound names such as phosphorous acid.
7. Pitcher (P)
Sports · Baseball Abbreviations
Player who throws pitches to opposing batters from the pitcher's mound, position number 1 on the scorecard. The pitcher starts every play and is the most important defensive player.
Example: Lineup card: 9. P, batting ninth before the universal DH.
The mound is 60 feet 6 inches from home plate, a distance set in 1893. Pitchers are classified as starters (SP) and relievers (RP). In football P means punter.
8. Punter (P)
Sports · American Football Abbreviations
Specialist who kicks the ball away on fourth down by dropping it and kicking it before it touches the ground, aiming to pin the opponent deep or gain maximum distance. Punters are judged on gross average, net average and kicks downed inside the 20.
Example: The P averaged 49 yards and dropped three kicks inside the 20.
Punters often double as holders on field goals and extra points. A "coffin-corner" punt is aimed out of bounds near the goal line. In baseball scoring P is the pitcher, position number 1 on the scorecard.
9. Pico- (trillionth)
Units & Measurements · Metric and SI Unit Abbreviations
Trillionth-scale prefix (10^-12). Electronics uses it for picofarad capacitors, physics and chemistry for picometers and picoseconds, and radon testing for picocuries per liter.
Example: Replace the two 22 pF load capacitors on the crystal oscillator.
Adopted in 1960; the name comes from Spanish pico, meaning a small quantity, literally a peak or beak. The US EPA recommends fixing homes with radon at or above 4 pCi/L. Older electronics literature called the picofarad a micromicrofarad and wrote it as mmfd.
10. Piano (soft)
Arts & Entertainment · Music Abbreviations
Dynamic marking meaning soft, one of the basic indications of loudness in written music. The piano as an instrument takes its name from the same word.
Example: Bar 17 returns to p, so let the melody sing quietly.
The pianoforte was named for its ability to play both soft (piano) and loud (forte), unlike the harpsichord, whose volume barely changes with touch. Dynamics run from ppp to fff, with mezzo ("moderately") markings mp and mf in the middle.
Related abbreviations
More statistics abbreviations
- n – Sample size
- NPV – Negative predictive value
- OLS – Ordinary least squares
- OR – Odds ratio
- PCA – Principal component analysis
- PDF – Probability density function
- PI – Prediction interval
- PMF – Probability mass function
See all 88 statistics abbreviations →
More citation and bibliography abbreviations
- n.p. – No place (of publication)
- N.S. – New Style
- No. – Number
- O.S. – Old Style
- para. – Paragraph
- pl. – Plate
- POD – Print on demand
- pp. – Pages
See all 58 citation and bibliography abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.