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I was trying to find a proper abbreviation for the word dictionary.
Dict. or Dic. or something else?

Obviousely there won't be a short form for each English word. But if there does exist one, how can I find it? Is there a rule of thumb for choosing the right abbreviation for any given word?

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Like I said under Snumpy's answer as a comment, I've always seen Dict. as an abbreviation for Dictionary.

On my NOAD:

Dict. abbreviation

  • Dictation;
  • dictionary.

If I find more references, I'll make sure to post them.

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The key to abbreviations is that the reader knows what it means, so you could arguably use any abbreviation that would be clear to your reader(s).

In your particular case, the standard abbreviation is Dic, and others can be found at the same site.

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    Weird, I've always seen Dict for Dictionary... It seems even less ambiguous.
    – Alenanno
    May 21, 2011 at 19:50
  • Is the period sign necessary or just optional?
    – IPX
    May 21, 2011 at 19:52
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    That link you give says that the abbreviation DIC is a computer filename extension (and presumably this is why it has only three letters). A quick (though far from comprehensive) google suggests that dict is a more common abbreviation for dictionary.
    – psmears
    May 21, 2011 at 22:27

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