| adm. | admitted |
| ae., aet. | aged |
| aft. | after |
| als. | alias |
| ante | before; by |
| app. or appt. | apparently |
| b. | born |
| bap., bapt., bp. | baptized |
| bef. | before |
| betw. | between |
| bur. | buried |
| ca. | about (circa) |
| Cal. | Calendar |
| cf. | compare |
| cit. | the work cited (citato) |
| Co. or co. | county |
| coh. | co-heir |
| Coll. | College |
| cr. | created (as a peer) |
| d. | died |
| d.c.e. | writ of diem clausit extremum ("he closed his last day") |
| d.s.p. | died without issue (sine prole) |
| d.s.p. legit. | died without legitimate issue |
| d.s.p.m. | died without male issue |
| d.v.p. or v.p. | died during father's lifetime (vita patris) |
| d.y. | died young |
| dau. | daughter |
| dea. | deacon |
| disp. | dispensation |
| div. | divorced |
| dtd. | dated |
| ff. | following |
| fl. | flourished or living (only approximate date known) |
| frm. | freeman, a voter in a colony. The date following is the date he was
admitted. |
| gen(s) | generation(s) |
| gent. | gentleman |
| gr. | granted |
| GS | gravestone |
| h. | heir (or heiress) |
| husb. | husband |
| i. | issue |
| I.p.m.; Inq.p.m. | Inquest Post Mortem. An inquest held to determine the deceased's land holding. Usually dated by "regnal year"; see below. |
| Ibid. | the same |
| J.P. | Justice of the Peace |
| j.u. | jure uxoris, right of the wife |
| k. | killed |
| K.B. | Kight of the Bath |
| K.G. | Knight of the Garter |
| K.T. | Knight of the Thistle (Scotland) |
| knt.; kt. | knight |
| lic. | license |
| liv. | living |
| loc. cit. | place cited |
| m. | married |
| m. (1); m. (2) |
married first; married second; etc. |
| M.I. | monumental inscription |
| M.P. | Member of Parliament |
| matric. | matriculated (entered and recorded at college or university) |
| ment. | mentioned |
| Mich. | Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael (many other dates are given as Saints feast days, or days before or days after. |
| ms.; mss. | manuscript; manuscripts |
| N., N.N. | name not known |
| n.i. | no issue |
| N.S. or n.s. | new series |
| nr. | near |
| ob. | died |
| occ. | occurs |
| op.cit. | the work cited above (opere citato) |
| p.; pp. | page; pages |
| P.C. | Privy Council |
| PCC | Prerogative Court of Canterbury (probate court) |
| perh. | perhaps |
| pres. | presumed |
| pro. | probated or proved (will) |
| prob. | probably |
| psh. | parish |
| pub. | published |
| purch. | purchased |
| q.v. | quod vide, which see |
| ref(s) | reference(s) |
| regnal year | the date most often used in medieval documents refering to the number of the year of the reign of the monarch at the time the document was dated. example; 3 Hen 4 or 3 Hen IV-Third year of the reign of Henry IV |
| Rot. | Roll; Rolls (rotalus). A term used for many types of old records. |
| s. | son |
| s.p. | without issue (see d.s.p.) |
| sh. | shortly |
| suc. | succeeded |
| succ. | successively |
| summ. | summoned |
| sou juris | in his (or her ) own right |
| surv. | survived |
| ult. | ultimo (last) |
| unkn. | unknown |
| unm. | unmarried |
| vol. | volume |
| wid. | widow |
| y. | young |
| yr. | younger |
| yr(s) | year(s) |
| yst. | youngest |