For the full list of symbols and abbreviations used in Advanced English see Appendix A.
Domain labels
Domain labels such as BIOL (for biology), GEOG (for geography), etc., serve to simplify the definitions and shall help you determine the usefulness of the learned terminology for your own purposes. It is important to distinguish between active and passive labels. The active label is followed by a colon, e.g. GEOG:, and is read "What geographical term is defined as follows:" In the example below, without the active label, the definition might seem quite enigmatic:
Q: geog: the longest parallel
A: equator
The passive label is placed in parentheses after the definition, e.g. (GEOG), and is read "this term pertains to geography". For example:
Q: DC (geog)
A: District Columbia
or
Q: DC (electr)
A: direct current
- or
Q: DC (comput)
A: device context
Both active and passive labels may appear in the same item. For example:
Q: coll: haemorrhoids (med)
A: piles
The above question should be read What colloquial term corresponds to haemorrhoids which are a medical term?.
Symbols and abbreviations
abbrev abbreviation
adj adjective
adv adverb
agric agriculture
anat anatomy
apprec appreciative
Arab Arabic
archit architecture
astr astronomy
Austr Australian English
bioch biochemistry
biol biology
bot botany
bus business
cell cell biology
chem chemistry
coll colloquial
comput computing sciences and computer technology
cor correct
culin culinary
deprec depreciatory
derog derogatory
educ education
econ economics
electr electronics and electric engineering
emph emphatic
euph euphemistic
fig figurative
form formal
Fr French
geog geography
geol geology
geom geometry
Ger German
grad gradation
hist history
hum humorous
id idiomatic
Ital Italian
Jap Japanese
kind kind expression
Lat Latin
law law
lit literature and literary language
math mathematics
med medicine
milit military terminology
mus music
myth mythology
n noun
neg negation
NZeal New Zealand English
old old use
opp opposite to
pet pet expression
phil philosophy
phys physics
physiol physiology
pl plural
poet poetical
polit politics
prefix prefix
prov proverbial
psych psychology
pv phrasal verb
quot quotation
rare rare
rel religion
Rus Russian
Scand Scandinavian languages
Scot Scottish English
short shortened expression
sing singular
sl slang
sociol sociology
Span Spanish
sport sport
suffix suffix
tdmk trademark
tech technology and technical terminology
telecom telecommunications
UK British English
US American English
vulg vulgar
zool zoology
Other symbols:
( ) used to denote: a) metalanguage, e.g. Q: (phrase used to express surprise) A: Gee!/Gosh! b) selection, e.g. Q: He is (the/a) president of General Motors A: the c) examples, d) optional phrase extensions, e.g. A: The grass is always greener on the other side (of the fence)
/ used to separate alternative terms (e.g. dad/daddy)
| used to separate British and American terms (e.g. fridge | refrigerator)
... cloze deletion (e.g. I met him ... beach)
-> insert symbol: Q: already -> I have seen it A: I have already seen it (the item asks for passive recognition of the American phrase; rendition of the British equivalent being optional)
sth something
sb somebody
esp especially
usu usually
nil empty word
(P) pronunciation
(T) past tense and past participle (e.g. go, went, gone)
(S) spelling
i.e. that is
e.g. for example
etc. and so on
References
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, Oxford University Press 1980
Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, Longman Group UK Limited 1986
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman Group UK Limited 1995
Pocket Medical Dictionary, Churchill Livingstone, Royal Society of Medicine 1987
Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary, Lexicon Publications Inc 1988
Longman Dictionary of Business English, Longman Group UK Limited 1989
Longman Dictionary of Scientific Usage, Longman Group UK Limited 1989
The Cambridge Encyclopedia, Cambridge University Press 1990
New Illustrated Webster's Dictionary, Pamco Publishing Company Inc 1992
Popular journals and magazines: Time, Newsweek, The Economist, Business Week, Money, Science, Nature, Scientific American, Byte, PC World, PC Magazine, JAMA, Prevention, Muscles&Fitness, and many more
World Wide Web
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our thanks for invaluable help in providing material for, suggestions about, and corrections to Advanced English are due in particular to Margaret Newcomer, Michal Hejwosz, Monika Morawska, Przemek Slopien, Jarek Ast, Przemek Pempera, Tomek Urbanski, Maciej Butrymowicz, Eryk Horloza, Prof. Wlodzimierz Sobkowiak, Piotr Metzler, Janusz Murakowski, Przemek Glowacki, Michael Spirydowicz-Tulipan, Krzysztof Biedalak, Mark Anthony, Bartek Grabowski, and Mark Bates. Without them, Advanced English would never see the light in the present form
Dr Piotr Wozniak, Advanced English Team