sity in 1853 and for a time practiced law with his brothers Austin and Benjamin Vaughan Abbott. Afterward he studied theology with his uncle. Rev. John S. C. Abbott, and became pastor of a church at Terre Haute, Ind., in 1800. Five years later lie was made secretary of the Ameri- can Union (Freedman's) Commi.ssion and became pastor of the New England Church in New York City. In 18(19 he resigned this pastorate and thereafter was successively one of the editors of Harper's Magazine, the principal editor of the Illustrated Christian ^'eekll|, and, as associate of Henry Ward Beeclier, an editor of the Christian Union (now the Outlook) , of which he afterward became editor-in-chief. He succeeded Mr. Beecher as pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, in 18S8, but resigned in May, 1899, and has since devoted himself entirely to editorial and literary work. In collaboration with his brothers Austin and Benjamin he wrote two novels, Vonecut Corners (1885) and Matthew Carahy (1888). Among his other numerous works are commentaries, Jesus of Nazareth (1869); a Dictionary of Religious Knowledge (1872, with Dr. T. J. Conant); Life of Henry Ward Beecher (1883); Evolution of Christianity (lS9i;); Christianity and Soeial Problems ( 1890); The Theology of an Evolutionist ( 1897 ); Life and Letters of Paul (1898); Life and Literature of the Ancient Hebrews (1901); The Rights of Man (1901).
ABBOTT, Thomas Kingsmill (1829—). An Irish scholar. He was born at Dublin and was
educated at Trinity College, where he afterward
occupied the chair of moral philosophy (1867-
72), of biblical Greek (1875-88), and of Hebrew
(after 1879). He wrote the following books:
The Elements of Logic (third edition, 1895);
Essays, chiefly on the original texts of the Old and New Testaments (1892); A Commentary
on Ephesians and Colossians (1897); a translation of Kant's Ethics, with a memoir, and Kant's Introduction to Logic (fifth edition, 1878).
ABBRE'VIA'TIONS (Lat. ad, to + brevis,
short ) . Contrivances in writing for saving
time and space. They are of two kinds, consist-
ing either in the omission of some letters, or
words, or in the substitution of some arbitrary
sign. In the earliest times, when uncial or
lapidary characters were used, abbreviations by
omission prevailed, such as we find in the
inscriptions on monuments, coins, etc. In these
the initial letter is often put instead of the whole
word, as M. for Marcus, F. for Filius. It was
after the small Greek and Roman letters had
been invented by transcribers for facilitating
their work that signs of abbreviation, or cbar-
aeters representing double consonants, syllables,
and whole words, came into use. Greek manu-
scripts abound with such signs, and often only
one who has expressly studied Greek paleogra-
phy can make them out. From the manuscripts
they passed into the early printed editions of
Greek books, and it is only within the last cen-
tury that they have quite disappeared. Among
the Romans the system was carried to such an
extent that L. Anna^us Seneca collected and clas-
sified 5000 abbreviations. The same practice has
prevailed in all languages, but nowhere more than in the rabbinical writings. The abbreviations used by the ancient Romans were continued and increased in the Middle Ages. They occur in inscriptions, manuscripts, and legal documents; and the practice endured in these long after the invention of printing had made it unnecessary in books. An act of Parliament was passed in the reign of George II., forbidding the use of abbreviations in legal documents. Owing to these abbreviations, the deciph-
ering of old writings requires special study and
training, and forms a separate science, on which
numerous treatises have been written. One of
the most exhaustive is Tassin's Xoui^cau Traite
de Diplomatique (6 volumes, Paris, 1750-05).
See Paleography.
In ordinary writing and printing few abbrevia-
tions are now employed. The sign <&, originally
an abbreviation for the Latin et, "and," is one
of the few still to be met with of this arbitrary
kind. It does not stand properly for a word,
for it is used in diff'erent languages, but for an
idea, and is as much a symbol as -f. The abbre-
viations by using the initials of Latin words
that are still in use are chiefly confined to titles,
dates, and a few phrases; as M.A. (magister
artium) , Master of Arts; a.d. {anno Domini) ,
in the year of our Lord; e.g. {exempli gratia),
for example. Many are now formed from Eng-
lish Avords in the same way; as F.G.S., Fellow
of the Geological Sooiet}'; B.C., before Christ.
The following table contains many of the
more important abbreviations in general use.
There are omitted from it many others whose
meanings are obvious, and all abbreviations for
days, months, countries. States, many proper
names, as those of the Scriptures; grammatical,
scientific, and other technical terms: familiar
titles, as Mr., Gov.; and the majority of commer-
cial terms, as. B/1, bill of lading. The names of
many societies are omitted, especially when their
abbreviations, as Y.M.C.A., are well known.
A.B., Bachelor of Arts.
Abp., Archbishop.
A.C. {ante Christum), Before Christ.
Acce. {accelerando) , In music, more quickly.
A.D. {anno Domini), In the year of our Lord.
A.D.C., Aide-de-camp.
A.H. {anno EegirrF), In the year of the
Hegira (reckoning from 622 a.d. ).
Ad. Lib. {ad libitum), At pleasure.
Aet. {(etatis). Of (his or her) age.
A.M. {ante meridiem). Before noon; {anno
niundi) , In the year of the world; {artium mag-
ister). Master of Arts.
An. {anno), In the year.
Anon., Anonymous.
A.R.A., Associate of the Royal Academy (Lon-
don) .
A.S.A., American Statistical Association.
A.T.S., American Tract Society.
A.U.C. (at urbe condita) , From the building
of the city — that is, Rome.
A. v.. Authorized Version.
b.. Born.
B.A. or A.B. {artium baccalaureus) , Bachelor
of Arts.
Bart, or Bt., Baronet.
B.C., Before Christ.
B.C.L., Bachelor of Civil Law.
B.D., Bachelor of Divinity.
B.L., Bachelor of Letters.
B.LL., Bachelor of Laws.
B.M., Bachelor of Medicine.
B.Mus., Bachelor of Music.
Bp., Bishop.
B.S. or B.Sc, Bachelor of Science.
