This page includes various common abbreviations of words found in French documents. This, however, is not an exhaustive list.

A

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
accomplissement	​​​accomplishment	​accompss
​action	​action	​aon
​agréable	​agreeable	​agable
​à l'autre	​to the other	​à laa
à mon dit Seigneur	​to my said master	​amond.Sg
​Antoine	​Anthony	​anthoyne
appartenant	​divided, seperated	​aparten
​apothicaire	​apothecary	​appore
​assavoir	​ascertain	​assr
​aucun	​any	​aulcun
​auparavant	​before, previously	​auparav
​autre	​other	​aue
​avoir	​to have	​avr​

B

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
benédiction	benediction, blessing	​bendiction
​​​bénéfice	​benefactor	​bé​nfin
bien	good, well	​bn

C

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
cause	​cause	​cae
certain	certain	​ctain
c'est à savoir	this is to know	​c.st arrr
ceux	them	​cex
​châtelain	​lord, landowner	​chàseln
​chevalier	​knight	​chr
cinquante	​fifty	​cinqte
​com, con	​against, anti	​c.
​comme	​like, as	​com
commune	​city	​c_uns
​constant	​constant	​c_nst
​condamnation	​condemnation	​condampon
condition	​condition	​condion
​conduit	​to drive	​c_duis
​confessé	​to confess	​c_fyssé​
​confirmer	​to confirm	​c_firmer
​confronte	​confront	​cfront
​conquerant	​conqueror	​cqueront
​considération	​consideration	​c-suder
​consiste	​consist	​c_syste
​consommation	​consummation	​csomay
​constitué	​contitute	​consttui
​contemplation	​contemplation	​contempa_
​contraire	​contrary	​ctre

D

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
Dame	lady	De
demoiselle	young lady	Dam_e
​d'autre pars	​the other party	​dap_t
devoir	​duty	​debu_r
​décembre	​December	​dbre
​décédées	​the deceased	​décé_é
​déclaration	declaration	​descl
​demeurant	​living, residing	​de.d.dant
​dis	said	​d.x.
donnée	​gave	​d_né​

E

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
empêchement quelconque	any impediment	​empesch-que-q
​ensemble	together	​ensemb.
entre	between; among	​ent.
ecrit; écrire	​to write	​escr., escript
​entre-deux	​partition	​ent.e deux
​envers	​towards	​en.s
​envers et contre tous	​towards and against all	​en. et contre tous
é​largissement	​enlarging; discharge	​est.b, estab., est.bys
​eternelle	​eternal	​est.elle, ester.elle

F

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
faire	to make; to do	​fays.t
François	​Francis	​Fran.s
frère	brother	​frè

G

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
garant	guarantor; proof	​garr
​Général	​General	​g.n.al
Guilliaume	​William	​Guilb.e

H

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
héréditaire	​hereditary	​hérédité
héritiers	heir; heiress	​her.s

I

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
immeubleur	property; real estate	​immeub
interet, inerlignes	interest; share	​int.s, inter
​irrevocablement	irrevocably	​ir.vo.cal

J

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
jamais	​never	​ja.
​jouissance	​possession	​jouiss.e
​jour	​day	​jr, jor
​journal, journaux	​news; journal	​journ.
​juste	​fair, legitimate	​jouste
jugement	judgement; trial	​​juger
​jugés	​judges	​j.ges
​juridiction	​jurisdiction	​juridi.on

L

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
labourable	arable	​lab.b
laboureur	​plowman	​lab
​laquelle	the which; which one	​laq.es
l'autre	the other	l'au.e
les leurs	theirs	​les le.rs

M

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
Mademoiselle	Miss	Madelle
maison	house	​m.son
marguerita	margarita	​magrite
​merci	thank you	​m.ci
​mutuellement	​mutually	​mutuell.

N

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
néanmoins	nevertheless	​neanm.
notaire	notary	​no.tre
noble	noble	​nob
notre Seigneur	our Lord	​No. S. r
novembre	november	​no.bre

O

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
obligé, obligeant	obliged	​obl.gé, obl.gment
Orléans	Orleans	​Orl.
ordonnance	arrangement; ordinance	​ord.ce

P

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
pour Jehan, Jean	for Jehan, Jean (mas)	​P.J n
pour Johanne, Jeanne	for Johanne, Jeanne (fem)	​P.J. ne
par, pre, pro, per, por	by	​P
paraitre	to appear	​par.tre
par chacun ans	by each year	​par ch cung an
pardonner	to forgive, excuse	​pdnner
​per, pre	by	​(special sign)
personne	person	​ponne
personellement	personally	​pers.t
personellement etabli	personally established	​pers.est.bly
Philippe	Philippe (Phillip)	​ph.​e
​Pierre	​Pierre (Peter)	​per
​premier	​first	​p.mier
​principauté	​principality, princedom	​princip.té
​prochaine	​next, nearest	​pchne
​proche	​near, close	​pche
​procuration	​power of attorney	​procuraon
​profession	​occupation	​pfsson
​promesse	​promise	​promise, pledge
​préparés	​to prepare	​ppes

Q

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
que, qui, quoi	that, who, what, which	​q.
quatre	four	​q.tre
quelconques	any, whatever	​q.conqs
​quiete	quiet	​q.ete
qu'il, qu'ils	that which, that they	​ql, qls

R

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
raison	​reason, intellect	​rai.on
recevoir	to receive	​recev.r
en leur regard, à leur égard	in their consideration, with respect to	​(special sign) rgard

S

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
son, sa, ser	his, her	​s.
saint, sainte	saint	​St., Ste
​satisfaction, satisfait	to satisfy, satisfaction	​satisf
seigneur	Mister	​Sr
sera, seront	​will be	​sa, sont
signer	to sign	​s.gner
​soit, sois	would be	​syt, sys
soussigné	undersigned	​soubs
succession	​succession, series, sequence	​succes.
suffisant	​sufficient, adequate	​sffist
suppliant, supplier	imploring, entreating, to beg	​supp
​surdit	deafness, by the said	​ss.d.t, surd.t

T

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
tailleur	tailor	​taillr
terre	ground	​tre
testements	​testaments, wills	​tystments
transporté	​transported, carried away	​tr. porté

V

French	English	​Abbreviation	Sample
verbal	by word of mouth, verbal	​v​bal
veritable	true	​​véritab.
​vérité	truth	​​ver.​​te
​vêtements	​clothing	​vestms
​veuve​​	​widow	​ve.fve
​vivant	living	​​viv

Sources:
Renaud, M. Hyacinthe. Paléographie Française ou Méthode de Lecture des Manuscrits Français du XIIIe au XVIIe Siègle Inclusivement. Rochefort: Imprimerie Ch. Thèze, 1860