List of acronyms: M

This list contains acronyms, initialisms, and pseudo-blends that begin with the letter M.

An acronym is an abbreviation pronounced as a series of constituent letters; an initialism is an abbreviation whose pronunciation is wholly or partly the names of constituent letters; and a pseudo-blend is an abbreviation whose extra or omitted letters means that it cannot be considered a true acronym, initialism, or portmanteau (a word formed by combining two or more words).

(a) = acronym in the example: SARS - (a) Severe acute respiratory syndrome

(i) = initialism in the example: CD - (i) Compact disc

(p) = pseudo-blend in the example: UNIFEM - (p) United Nations Development Fund for Women

(s) = symbol (none of the above, stands for and is read as something else; for example: MHz - Megahertz)

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Please add your own, in a quasi-dictionary order with lowercase treated the same as uppercase and ignoring non-alphanumeric characters (hyphens and such). This means that only alphanumeric characters have any significance in determining order, and that lowercase letters occupy the same ordering position as uppercase (in tie-breaker cases, list lower case first). For example: Algol appears before ALS. (This differs from a strict ASCII ordering.)

MA

• MA - (s) Madagascar (NATO country code) - Massachusetts (postal symbol) - Morocco (ISO 3166 digram)
• MAA - (i) Mathematical Association of America
• MAC - (s) Macao (ISO 3166 trigram) - (a) U.S. Military Airlift Command (1966-1992)
• MACA - (i) Military Aid to the Civil Authorities
• MACHO - (p) MAssive Compact Halo Object
• MAD - (a) Magnetic Anomaly Detector - Mutual Assured Destruction
• MADD - (a) Mothers Against Drunk Driving - Myoadenylate Deaminase Deficiency
• MAF - (i) Maintenance Action Form
• MAGNETAR - (p) Metaprogrammable AGent NETwork ARchitecture
• MAGTF - (i) Marine Air-Ground Task Force
• MALD - (a) Miniature Air-Launched Decoy
• MANPADS - (p) Man-Portable Air Defence System
• MAO - (i) Molėtų astronomijos observatorija (Moletai Astronomical Observatory) - MonoAmine Oxidase
• MAQS - (a) Museum of the American Quilter's Society ("max")
• MAR - (s) Morocco (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MARFORCC - (p) Marine Force Component Commander
• MAS - (i) NATO Military Agency for Standardisation
• MASAS - (a) Monte Agliale Supernovae and Asteroid Survey
• Maser - (a) Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
• MASH - (a) Mobile Army Surgical Hospital
• MATS - (a) U.S. Military Air Transport Service (1948-1966)
• MAVS - (a/i) Mobile Artillery Vehicle System

MB

• MB - (s) Manitoba (postal symbol)
• MBA - (i) Main Battle Area - Masters of Business Administration
• MBCC - (i) Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (U.S.)
• MBCS - (i) Multi-Byte Character Set
• MBE - (i) Member of the Order of the British Empire
• MBTA - (i) Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority - (i) Migratory Bird Treaty Act (U.S.)

MC

• MC - (i) Master of Ceremony - Military Cross (bravery award) - (s) Monaco (ISO 3166 digram)
• MCA - (i) MultiChannel Analyzer
• MCC - (i) Mission Control Centre - Movement Control Centre
• MCD - (i) Minimal Cerebral Dysfunction
• MC&G - (i) Mapping, Charting, and Geodesy
• MCM - (i) Mine Counter-Measures
• MCO - (s) Monaco (ISO 3166 trigram) - (i) Movement Control Officer
• MCP - (i) Maintenance Collection Point
• MCT - (i) Movement Control Team

MD

• Md - (s) Mendelevium
• MD - (s) Maryland (postal symbol) - (i) Medicinae Doctor (Doctor of Medicine/Medical Doctor) - Mentioned in Dispatches (military) - (s) Moldova (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram)
• MDA - (i) Main Defensive Area - (s) Moldova (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MDF - (i) Main Distribution Frame - Medium-Density Fibreboard
• MDG - (s) Madagascar (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MDM - (i) Michigan Dartmouth MIT telescope consortium
• MDMA - (i) MethyleneDioxy-MethylAmphetamine (also known as "Ecstasy")
• MDT - (i) Mountain Daylight Saving Time (UTC-6 hours)
• MDV - (s) Maldives (ISO 3166 trigram)

ME

• Me - (s) Messerschmitt
• ME - (s) Maine (postal symbol) - (i) Mechanical Engineer[ing] - Medical Examiner - Middle East - (s) Middle East Airlines (IATA code) - (i) Memory Effect - Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
• MEA - (i) Maine Educational Assessment - Middle East Airlines - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - Minimum Enroute Altitude - Mono-ethanol Amine - Multilateral Environmental Agreement
• MEC - (s) Maine Central Railroad (AAR reporting mark) - Manta, Ecuador (IATA location identifier) - (i) Model European Council - Mountain Equipment Co-op
• MECC - (a) Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (later Corporation, dissolved 1999)
• MEDEVAC - (p) Medical Evacuation
• MEF - (i) U.S. Marine Expeditionary Force - Minimum Essential Facility - Mission Essential Force
• MEG - (i) MagnetoEncephaloGraphy
• MEI - (i) Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
• MEK - (i) Magyar Elektronikus Konyvtar - Message Encryption Key - Methyl ethyl ketone - (p) Mujahideen al-Khalq
• MEL - (i) Maya Embedded Language - Michigan Electronic Library
• MEM - (i) Message Exchange Mechanism
• MEO - (a) Medium Earth Orbit
• MEP - (i) Mechanical Electrical Plumbing - Member of the European Parliament - Missions étrangères de Paris (French for "Paris Foreign Missions") - Model European Parliament
• MER - (i) Mars Exploration Rover
• MES - (i) Marconi Electronic Systems
• MET - (p) Meteorological - (a) Middle European Time
• METAR - (p) [Meteorological] Aviation Routine weather report
• METOC - (p) Meteorological and Oceanographic
• METT-T - (a/i) Mission, Enemy, Terrain, Troops, and Time available (mnemonic)
• METT-TC - (a/i) Mission, Enemy, Terrain [and weather], Troops [and support], Time [available] and Civilian considerations (mnemonic)
• MEU - (i) U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit - Maximum Expected Utility
• MeV - (s) Megaelectron-volt
• MEV - (i) Musica Elettronica Viva
• MEX - (s) Mexico (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MEZ - (i) Missile Engagement Zone

MG

• Mg - (s) Magnesium
• MG - (i) Machine Gun - (s) Madagascar (ISO 3166 digram) - Mongolia (NATO country code) - (i) Morris Garage
• MGB - (i) Medium Girder Bridge
• MGM - (i) Metro Goldwyn Mayer - (s) Montgomery, AL (Airport Code)

MH

• MH - (s) Marshall Islands (postal symbol; ISO 3166 digram)
• MHHW - (i) Mean Higher High Water (nautical charts)
• MHL - (s) Marshall Islands (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MHLW - (i) Mean Higher Low Water (nautical charts)
• MHW - (i) Mean High Water (nautical charts)
• MHWN - (i) Mean High Water Neaps (nautical charts)
• MHWS - (i) Mean High Water Springs (nautical charts)
• MHz - (s) MegaHertz

MI

• MI - (s) Malawi (NATO country code) - Michigan (postal symbol) - Midway Islands (ISO 3166 digram; obsolete 1986) - (i) Military Intelligence
• MIA - (i) Missing In Action
• MIB - (i) Men In Black - Mint In Box (Internet auction/trading listings)
• MICOM - (p) Missile Command
• MICV - (i) Mechanised Infantry Combat Vehicle
• MID - (s) Midway Islands (ISO 3166 trigram; obsolete 1986)
• MIDS - (i) Multi-Function Information Distribution System
• MIFG - (s) Shallow Fog (METAR Code)
• MILF - (a) Moro Islamic Liberation Front - Mother I'd Like To Fuck
• MILSATCOM - (p) Military Satellite Communications
• MILSTRIP - (p) Military Standart Requisitioning and Issue Procedure
• MIMAROPA - (p) Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan (a region in the Philippines)
• MIMOSA - (a) MIcroMeasurements Of Satellite Acceleration
• MIP - (a) Multilateral Interoperability Programme - Multiple Identity Poster
• MIRV - (a) Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicle
• MIS - (a) Management Information Systems - Museum Information System
• MISSI - (a) Multilevel Information System Security Initiative
• MIT - (i) Massachusetts Institute of Technology - methylisothiazoline - Milli Istihbarad Teskilati (Intelligence service of Turkey)
• MITS - see entry

MJ

• MJD - (i) Modified Julian Day

MK

• MK - (s) Air Mauritius (IATA code) - Macedonia (ISO 3166 digram) - (i) Mortal Kombat (game)
• MKD - (s) Macedonia (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MKO - (i) Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (Arabic "People's Mujahedin of Iran")
• MKS - (i) Metre-Kilogram-Second system of units
• MKT - (i) Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (1865-1989) - Mortal Kombat Trilogy

ML

• ML - (s) Mali (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram) - (i) Maximum Likelihood
• MLA - (i) Martial Law Administration of Bangladesh - Master of Landscape Architecture - Medical Library Association - Member of Legislative Assembly - Modern Language Association - Mutual Legal Assistance treaty - Myelosis Leucemica Acuta
• MLB - (i) Major League Baseball
• MLE - (i) Maximum likelihood estimation
• MLHW - (i) Mean Lower High Water (nautical charts)
• MLI - (s) Mali (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MLLW - (i) Mean Lower Low Water (nautical charts)
• MLRS - (i) Multiple-Launch Rocket System
• MLS - (i) Major League Soccer - Multiple Listing Service
• MLSR - (i) Missing, Lost or Stolen Report
• MLT - (s) Malta (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MLVW - (i) Medium Logistics Vehicle, Wheeled
• MLW - (i) Mean Low Water (nautical charts)
• MLWN - (i) Mean Low Water Neaps (nautical charts)
• MLWS - (i) Mean Low Water Springs (nautical charts)

MM

• MM - (s) Myanmar (ISO 3166 digram)
• MMC - (i) Materiel Management Centre
• MMEV - (i) Multi-Mission Effects Vehicle
• MMO - (i) Massively Multiplayer Online (computer game)
• MMR - (s) Myanmar (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MMS - (i) Multimission Modular Spacecraft
• MMU - (i) Manned Manoeuvring Unit

MN

• Mn - (s) Manganese
• MN - (s) Minnesota (postal symbol) - Monaco (NATO country code) - Mongolia (ISO 3166 digram)
• MNB - (p) Multinational Brigade
• MNB C - (p) Multinational Brigade Centre (KFOR)
• MND - (i) Motor Neurone Disease - (p) Multinational Division
• MNG - (s) Mongolia (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MNP - (s) Northern Mariana Islands (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MNT - (p) Molecular nanotechnology

MO

• Mo - (s) Molybdenum
• MO - (s) Macao (ISO 3166 digram) - Missouri (postal symbol) - (i) modus operandi (Latin, "mode of operation") - (s) Morocco (NATO country code)
• MOAB - (a) Massive Ordnance Air Blast (official) - Mother Of All Bombs (slang)
• MOC - (i) Mission Operations Centre
• MoD - (i) Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
• ModSAF - (p) Modular Semi-Automated Forces (military simulation)
• Moe - (a) Marvel of entertainment
• MOE - (i) Measure Of Effectiveness
• MOF - (a/i) Ministry of Finance
• MOFA - (a/i) Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• MOM - (a) Management Object Model (HLA)
• MoMA - (a) Museum of Modern Art
• MOOTW - (p) Military Operations Other Than War ("moot-double-you")
• MOP - (i) Measure Of Performance
• MOPE - (a) Most Oppressed People Ever (politics)
• MOPP - (i) Mission-Oriented Protective Posture
• MORP - (a) Meteorite Observation and Recovery Project
• MOS - (i) Military Occupational Specialty - (a) Mit Out Sound / Motor Only Sync - (i) Mobile Object System - Model Output Statistics - Multiplayer Online Services
• MOSFET - (a) Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor
• MOSS - (p) MObile Submarine Simulator - (a) Moving Object Support System
• MOTESS - (a) Moving Object and Transient Event Search System
• MOUT - (i) Military Operations in Urban[ized] Terrain
• MOW - (i) Maintenance of way (also MW)
• MOZ - (s) Mozambique (ISO 3166 trigram)

MP

• MP - (i) Magic Points - (s) Mauritius (NATO country code) - (i) Member of Parliament - Military Police - Missouri Pacific - (s) Northern Mariana Islands (postal symbol; ISO 3166 digram)
• MPA - (i) Maritime Patrol Aircraft - Master of Public Administration
• MPEG - (a) Motion Pictures (Coding) Experts Group
• MPEV - (i) Multi-Purpose Engineering Vehicle
• MPFC - (i) Medial PreFrontal Cortex
• MPMC - (i) Medial PreMotor Cortex

MQ

• MQ - (s) Martinique (ISO 3166 digram)

MR

• MR - (s) Mauritania (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram)
• MRBM - (i) Medium Range Ballistic Missile
• MRC - (i) Maintenance Requirements Card
• MRE - (i) Meal Ready to Eat (U.S. military rations)
• MRI - (i) Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• MRL - (i) Multiple Rocket Launcher
• MRR - (i) Minimum-Risk Route - Maximum Rock and Roll - My Restaurant Rules
• MRT - (s) Mauritania (ISO 3166 trigram)

MS

• MS - (i) mano sinistra (Latin, "left hand") - (p) manuscript - (i) Master of Science - (p) Microsoft (sometimes M$) - (s) Mississippi (postal symbol) - Montserrat (ISO 3166 digram) - (i) Multiple Sclerosis
• M&S - (i) Modelling & Simulation
• MSB - (i) Main Support Battalion
• MSD - (i) Minimum Safe Distance
• MSDB - (i) Multi Source Data Base
• MSE - (i) Multiple Subscriber Element
• MSEC - (p) Message Security Encryption Code ("emm-sec")
• MSG - (i) MonoSodium Glutamate
• MSI - (p) Multispectral imagery
• MSIE - (i) Microsoft Internet Explorer
• MSL - (i) Mean Sea Level - (p) Missile
• MSO - (i) Multiple System Operator
• MSR - (i) Main Supply Route - Module Service Record - (s) Montserrat (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MST - (i) Madison Symmetric Torus - Mountain Standard Time (UTC-7 hours)
• MST3K or MST3k - (i) Mystery Science Theater 3000

MT

• Mt - (s) Meitnerium
• MT - (s) Malta (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram) - Montana (postal symbol)
• MTF - (i) Medical Treatment Facility
• MTL - (i) Mean Tide Level (nautical charts)
• MTOE - (p) Modified Table of Organization and Equipment ("emm-toe")
• MTQ - (s) Martinique (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MTR - (i) Main and Tail Rotor (helicopter type) - Military-Technological Revolution
• MTS - (i) Michigan Terminal/Timesharing System - Multichannel Television Sound - Multi-Technical Services
• MTU - (i) Tankovei Mostoukladchik (Russian Танковый Мостоукладчик, "Tank Bridge-Layer") †
• MTV - (i) MainosTeleVisio (Finnish commercial TV company) - Music TeleVision
• MTVL - (i) Mobile Tracked Vehicle, Light

MU

• MU - (s) Mauritius (ISO 3166 digram) - Oman (NATO country code; from Muscat)
• MUS - (s) Mauritius (ISO 3166 trigram)

MV

• MV - (s) Maldives (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram) - (i) Motor Vehicle

MW

• MW - (i) Maintenance of way (also MOW) - (s) Malawi (ISO 3166 digram)
• MWC - (i) Maritime Warfare Centre (various nations)
• MWI - (s) Malawi (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MWR - (i) Morale, Welfare, and Recreation

MX

• MX - (s) Mexico (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram)
• MX - (a) Mail Exchange

MY

• MY - (s) Malaysia (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram)
• MYOB - (i) Mind Your Own Business
• MYS - (s) Malaysia (ISO 3166 trigram)
• MYT - (s) Mayotte (ISO 3166 trigram)

MZ

• MZ - (i) Mach-Zehnder (interferometer) - (s) Magnetic Azimuth - (i) Move, Zig (Zero Wing) - (s) Mozambique (NATO country code; ISO 3166 digram)

See also

• List of acronyms and initialisms