生活上、學術上常會見到一些英文字母縮寫，但又不知道怎麼念。到最後只能硬記下來。其實，並不是每個英文縮寫都是拉丁文，asap 是英文而來的縮寫，意思是 as soon as possible (儘快) 。R.S.V.P (Répondez s’il vous plaît) 是法文而來的縮寫，常用在邀請函的最後，意思是「若要前來，請回覆。本篇主要來講一些常見的拉丁文縮寫。
| 拉丁短語 | 拉丁語縮寫 | 英文直譯 | 中文意思 |
|---|---|---|---|
| anno Domini | A.D. | in the year of our Lord | 公元(西元) |
| ante meridiem | a.m. | before noon | 中午前 |
| circa | ca. | about, approximate | 大約 |
| et alia | et al. | and others; and elsewhere | 以及其他、等等 (人物) |
| et cetera | etc. | and the rest; and so forth; and so on | 以及其他、等等 |
| exempli gratia | e.g. | for example; such as | 例如、舉例 |
| ibidem | ibid. | in the aformentioned place | 同前面引證 |
| id est | i.e. | that is | 即、也就是 |
| post meridiem | p.m. | after noon | 下午、晚上 |
| quod erat demonstrandum | Q.E.D. | which had to be shown | 得證 |
| vice versa | N/A | conversely; in reverse order from that stated | 反之亦然 |
| videlicet | viz. | that is to say; namely | 換言之、也就是說 |
