How to decipher abbreviations

Literature references are often written with abbreviated terms. The following resources will help you to expand title abbreviations:

Classics and Ancient History

• 'Abbreviations used in the present work' in Oxford classical dictionary (OCD), 3rd edn (Oxford 1996), pp. xix-liv at PADE 5 OXF
• 'Liste des périodiques dépouillés' on L'Année philologique. Don't be put off by the introduction if you are not a French speaker. This list of journal title abbreviations is very comprehensive.
• Jean Susorney Wellington, Dictionary of bibliographic abbreviations found in the scholarship of classical studies and related disciplines, rev. and expanded edn (Westport, Conn. 2003) at Z 7016 WEL

Greek

• 'Abbreviations used in the present work' (OCD)
• 'Aids to the reader' and preliminaries to supplement in A Greek-English lexicon, comp. by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, 9th edn, with a rev. supplement (Oxford 1996), pp. xv-xlv, at Oversize PA 445.E5 LID

Latin

• 'Abbreviations used in the present work' (OCD)
• 'Aids to the reader' in Oxford Latin dictionary, ed. by P G W Glare (Oxford 1982), pp. ix-xxiii, at Oversize PA 2365.E5 OXF

Examples

See these enquiries from past students to illustrate how to cope with abbreviations (PDF file, 28KB).

Further help

If you are unable to find the abbreviation you are looking for, please ask a member of the Library staff for assistance. Alternatively, searching the Internet may help.