US Customary and Imperial Unit Abbreviations
43 abbreviations · part of Units of Measurement Abbreviations
Abbreviations for the inch-pound units used in the United States and, in imperial form, in the United Kingdom and other former British territories: length, area, volume, liquid and dry capacity, and weight. Since the 1959 international yard and pound agreement these units have been defined exactly in metric terms (1 inch = 25.4 mm, 1 pound = 0.45359237 kg). US and imperial volumes differ, so an imperial gallon, pint or fluid ounce is not the same size as its American namesake.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ac | Acre | A land area of 43,560 square feet, about 4,047 square meters or 0.405 hectare. |
| ac-ft | Acre-foot | Water volume that would cover one acre to a depth of one foot: 43,560 cubic feet, about 325,851 US gallons or 1,233 cubic meters. |
| bbl | Barrel (oil) | The standard unit for crude oil and petroleum products, equal to 42 US gallons or about 159 liters. |
| bd ft | Board foot | Lumber volume equal to a board 12 inches long, 12 inches wide and 1 inch thick, or 144 cubic inches. |
| bu | Bushel | A dry volume measure of 4 pecks or 32 dry quarts, about 35.2 liters, used for grain, fruit and vegetables. |
| CCF | Hundred cubic feet | Billing unit on US water and natural gas bills, using the Roman numeral C for one hundred. |
| ch | Chain | A surveyor's measure of 66 feet, equal to 22 yards, 4 rods or 100 links. |
| cu ft | Cubic foot | Volume of a cube one foot on each side, about 28.32 liters or 7.48 US gallons. |
| cu in | Cubic inch | Volume of a cube one inch on each side, about 16.39 cubic centimeters. |
| cu yd | Cubic yard | Twenty-seven cubic feet, about 0.765 cubic meter, the unit in which ready-mix concrete, gravel, mulch, topsoil and dumpster capacity are sold in the United States. |
| cwt | Hundredweight | A weight unit that differs between countries: the US short hundredweight is 100 pounds, while the British long hundredweight is 112 pounds (8 stone). |
| dr | Dram | A small weight or volume unit with several definitions: the avoirdupois dram is 1/16 ounce (about 1.77 g), the apothecaries' dram 1/8 troy ounce (about 3.89 g), and the… |
| dwt | Pennyweight | One twentieth of a troy ounce, about 1.555 grams. |
| fl oz | Fluid ounce | Volume unit for liquids: the US fluid ounce is 1/128 of a US gallon, about 29.57 mL, while the imperial fluid ounce is 1/160 of an imperial gallon, about 28.41 mL. |
| ft | Foot | Twelve inches, defined as exactly 0.3048 meter. |
| ftm | Fathom | Six feet, about 1.83 meters, the traditional unit of water depth. |
| fur | Furlong | One eighth of a mile: 220 yards, 660 feet or about 201 meters. |
| gal | Gallon | The largest common US liquid measure, defined as 231 cubic inches or about 3.785 liters. |
| gi | Gill | An old measure of liquid volume equal to a quarter of a pint: 4 US fluid ounces (about 118 mL) or 5 imperial fluid ounces (about 142 mL). |
| gr | Grain | The smallest unit in the avoirdupois, troy and apothecary systems, exactly 64.79891 milligrams; 7,000 grains make a pound. |
| hh | Hands high | Height of a horse measured in hands from the ground to the top of the withers, where one hand is exactly 4 inches. |
| imp | Imperial | Label for units of the British imperial system, established by the Weights and Measures Act 1824, used to separate them from US units of the same name. |
| in | Inch | Exactly 25.4 millimeters since 1959, and one twelfth of a foot. |
| lb | Pound (avoirdupois) | The standard unit of weight in the United States, 16 ounces, defined since 1959 as exactly 0.45359237 kilogram. |
| lbs | Pounds | The plural form of lb, very common in everyday American writing for body weight, gym plates, shipping and product weights. |
| LF | Linear foot | Length in feet along a material regardless of its width, the pricing unit for trim, molding, fencing, gutters, countertops and cabinets. |
| mi | Mile | The statute mile of 5,280 feet, exactly 1,609.344 meters, used for road distances and speed limits in the United States and the United Kingdom. |
| mil | Mil (thousandth of an inch) | One thousandth of an inch, 0.0254 millimeter, used in the US for the thickness of plastic sheeting, trash bags, coatings, labels and wire insulation. |
| NM | Nautical mile | Navigation distance unit of exactly 1,852 meters, about 1.151 statute miles, roughly equal to one minute of latitude. |
| oz | Ounce (avoirdupois) | The everyday unit of weight in the US system, one sixteenth of a pound, exactly 28.349523125 grams. |
| ozt | Troy ounce | The unit for pricing gold, silver, platinum and palladium, equal to about 31.10 grams, roughly 10 percent heavier than the everyday avoirdupois ounce. |
| pk | Peck | A dry measure equal to a quarter bushel, 8 dry quarts or about 8.8 liters. |
| pt | Pint | Liquid measure equal to half a quart: 16 US fluid ounces (about 473 mL) in the United States and 20 imperial fluid ounces (about 568 mL) in the UK and Ireland. |
| qt | Quart | One quarter of a gallon: the US liquid quart is 32 fl oz, about 946 mL, slightly less than a liter, while the imperial quart is about 1.137 liters. |
| rd | Rod | An old length unit of 16.5 feet, 5.5 yards or a quarter of a chain, also called a pole or perch. |
| SAE | Society of Automotive Engineers (inch-size tools) | In hardware and tool sets, SAE labels fasteners, sockets and wrenches sized in fractions of an inch, as opposed to metric sizes in millimeters. |
| SF | Square feet (construction and real estate) | Uppercase SF is the standard shorthand for square feet on architectural plans, construction estimates and commercial real estate listings, where office and retail rents… |
| sq ft | Square foot | Area of a square one foot on each side, about 0.0929 square meter. |
| sq in | Square inch | Area of a square one inch on each side, about 6.45 square centimeters. |
| sq mi | Square mile | Area of a square one mile on each side: 640 acres or about 2.59 square kilometers. |
| sq yd | Square yard | Nine square feet, about 0.836 square meter. |
| st | Stone | A British and Irish unit of body weight equal to 14 pounds, about 6.35 kilograms. |
| yd | Yard | Three feet or 36 inches, exactly 0.9144 meter. |