Abbreviations

Introduction

Everyone agrees that one of the most complicating factors of reading old handwritten records is the common use of abbreviations. This is due to the repeated use of the same words in records of the same type; most scribes would speed up the recording process and attempt to save paper or expensive vellum, ink, and time by abbreviating common given names, last names, and other words using certain abbreviating conventions. Yet, as a consequence, it makes some documents almost inaccessible to the regular reader who is not initiated into the scribe tradition.

The information on this page will provide the tools and resources to help you unravel the many abbreviations you will doubtless find while searching through old records. While first getting accustomed to Spanish abbreviations, we recommend that you consult the following list of

Common Abbreviations.

Spanish Abbreviations

While there were many attempts made to codify, limit, or completely ban the use of abbreviations, it is rare to work with a document that does not have some form of abbreviation. Generally, a greater amount of abbreviations are present the older the document is. Since abbreviations were so common in handwritten documents, there developed various types or styles of abbreviations. Having a basic understanding of how these different styles generally work and look will help to spot these abbreviations and avoid making mistakes. Even if a researcher does not immediately know what an abbreviation is, it is useful to be able to mark it for further investigation at a later date.

In Spanish documents, there are six categories of abbreviations, which are:

1. Contractions
2. Superpositions
3. Suspensions
4. Initials
5. Conventionalism
6. Interwoven

Below are brief explanations and examples of these categories. For a more complete list of documented abbreviations, see the Common Abbreviations page.

Contractions

An abbreviation by contraction is formed by writing the first and last letters of the word; sometimes, one or more of the letters in the middle of the word is included, but these can also be eliminated entirely. For example, the word escribano could be abbreviated esc.bo with or without a period to indicate the abbreviation. The name Francisco could be abbreviated Franco, often with a tilde-like symbol or a straight line above the abbreviation to alert the reader that something is missing.

Below are some examples of this type of abbreviation taken from real records.

Abbreviation	Meaning	Samples from Document
ecco	eclesiástico
Franco	Francisco
Hernz	Hernández
​dho	​dicho	​
​nra	​nuestra	​
​quis	​quinientos	​
​del	​de él	​

Superpositions

This may be considered a variation of the process of contraction. The first letters are written on the baseline, and the last one or two letters are written above the baseline in a smaller, superscript size. For example, the name Francisco would be abbreviated as Fran^co, with the superscripted letters having a line, a double line, a colon, or no symbol underneath. These are generally the easiest kinds of abbreviations to spot due to the offset letters that contrast with the rest of the text.

Below are some examples of this type of abbreviation taken from the records.

Abbreviation	Meaning	Samples from Document
Anto	Antonio
Fran.co	Francisco
Cat.a	Catalina

Suspensions

This is an abbreviation that is formed by writing the first part of the word and eliminating the last part. Sometimes this is marked by a period at the end of the suspension, but this is not the rule, so they can sometimes be trickier to spot. For example, vecino would be abbreviated vec. or vecin., and legitimo would be leg. or legit.

Below are some examples of this type of abbreviation taken from actual records.

Abbreviation	Meaning	Samples from Document
id	idem [Latin]
pat.	paterno
Fr.	Fray
​paraq	​para que	​
​loq	​lo que	​
​Fr.	​Fraile	​
​emas	​a demás	​
​porq	​porque	​

Initials

This could be considered a type of suspension where the first letter of a word has come to stand for the entire word or phrase. Some common examples are S.M.E. which stands for the Latin phrase Sancta Mater Ecclesia (The Holy Mother Church), or S.S.Y. stands for Su Señoría Ilustrísima (Your most illustrious Sir), and A.D. for Anno Domini (The year of the Lord). This process can also happen to single words, such as with P. for Pedro, F. for Francisco, or Ldo. for Licenciado; however, while it does occur, it is rarer to find this done to names. Frequently, such abbreviations are doubled in the case of plurals or superlatives. For example, HH stands for Hermanos (brothers), and SS means santísimo (the holiest).

Below are some examples of this type of abbreviation taken from the records.

Abbreviation	Meaning	Samples from Document
NM	Nuestra Madre
M.N. y M.L. Provincia	Muy​ Noble y Muy Leal Provinicia
SS.	Santísimo

Conventionalisms

Usually found in older documents, these are symbols that represent entire words or syllables. The most common is the use of X or Xpo or Xpto to represent Cristo (Christ) which is the convention that gives us X-mas for Christmas. This particular conventionalism is often used in the abbreviation of names like Cristóbal, which becomes Xptobal. Another kind of abbreviation using conventions is exemplified by the use of numbers to abbreviate the first part of some of the months of the year, such as: 7bre for septiembre, 8bre for octubre, 9bre for noviembre, and 10bre or Xbre for diciembre. Notice that the numbers correspond to the name of the month, not the actual calendar number of the month. The use of these numbers may be misleading at first as the abbreviations do not match their actual numerical order in the current Gregorian Calendar; the explanation for this is that the names of the month still follow the original 304-day, ten-month Roman Calendar that started in March and ended in December, or Mensis December "the tenth month;" the remaining winter days that would later be organized into January and February where left as the unorganized "winter."¹

There are also many syllables that may appear abbreviated using conventionalisms, such as: per, par, por, pro, mer, ser, ver, vir, etc. Sometimes these symbols consist of the initial letter of the syllable with a curl or a line crossing the letter, but there are certain symbols that can come to represent specific syllables. These symbols are taken directly from the long tradition of Latin abbreviations and applied to Spanish. Due to the nuance and number of specific symbols, these are some of the most difficult abbreviations to try and decipher and cause difficulty to even the most seasoned researchers. Fortunately, these are mostly found in the oldest documents and mostly disappeared by the 1600s. For more detailed information, see the Abbreviations page in the Latin tutorial.

Below are some examples of this type of abbreviation taken from the records.

Abbreviation	Meaning	Samples from Document
Xptoual	Cristóbal
​Xptiana	​Cristiana	​
ßnardo	Bernardo
Vdad	verdad
​Vdugo	​Verdugo	​
p	per or por
9bre	noviembre
9mbre	noviembre
Xbre	diciembre

Interwoven

This form of abbreviation is found almost exclusively in procesal or chain-script handwriting, which means that it is generally only found in older documents. Sometimes it can be found used in titles. Interwoven abbreviations are where the letters of a word are superimposed upon each other to form a compact unit. Like conventionalisms, these are some of the harder abbreviations and can confuse researchers that are not expecting them.

Below are some examples of this type of abbreviation taken from the records.

Abbreviation	Meaning	Samples from Document
L[IBRO] L9 B[AU]TISM[OS]	Libro {de} los bautismos

1. Macrobius, Saturnalia Vol 1, ed. Robert A Kaster (Cambrige: Harvard University Press, 2011), Book I, Ch. 12, §34.

• Image: Christopher Columbus, Colombus Notes To Marco Polo, Image, Digital Image, Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org : accessed 20 July 2023). This image is in the public domain.

Additional Resources:

• Carlin, A. Roberta. A Paleographic Guide to Spanish Abbreviations, 1500-1700: Una guía paleográfica de abreviaturas españolas. (Universal Publisher: 2003).