Tel.
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Telephone |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Writing & Everyday, Military |
| Also written | TEL |
Tel. has two meanings. It stands for Telephone (email and office) or Transporter erector launcher (weapon and military equipment).
Meanings of Tel. at a glance
| # | Tel. stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telephone | Writing & Everyday › Email and Office |
| 2 | Transporter erector launcher | Military › Weapon and Military Equipment |
1. Telephone
Writing & Everyday · Email and Office Abbreviations
Labels a telephone number on letterheads, business cards, websites and forms. It distinguishes the landline or main number from fax and mobile numbers listed nearby.
Example: For reservations, Tel. +44 20 7946 0958 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Variants include "Tel:" without a period and "T:" in minimalist designs. International formats begin with a plus sign and the country code, following the ITU-T E.123 recommendation for printing phone numbers. On American business cards, "Ph." or "Phone" is more common than "Tel."
2. Transporter erector launcher (TEL)
Military · Weapon and Military Equipment Abbreviations
Vehicle that carries a missile, raises it to a vertical firing position and launches it, giving ballistic missile forces mobility and making them hard to find and destroy.
Example: Satellite images showed two TELs hidden in tunnels near the coast.
During the 1991 Gulf War, coalition aircraft struggled to find Iraqi Scud TELs, a lesson in the difficulty of hunting mobile launchers. North Korea, Russia and China field road-mobile ICBMs on large TELs.
Related abbreviations
More email and office abbreviations
- SME – Subject-matter expert
- TBA – To be announced
- TBC – To be confirmed
- TBD – To be determined
- ToR – Terms of reference
- w/c – Week commencing
- w/e – Week ending
- WFH – Work from home
See all 60 email and office abbreviations →