List of acronyms: F

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

For the purposes of this list:

• acronym = an abbreviation pronounced as if it were a word, e.g., SARS = severe acute respiratory syndrome, pronounced to rhyme with cars
• initialism = an abbreviation pronounced wholly or partly using the names of its constituent letters, e.g., CD = compact disc, pronounced cee dee
• pseudo-blend = an abbreviation whose extra or omitted letters mean that it cannot stand as a true acronym, initialism, or portmanteau (a word formed by combining two or more words).

(a) = acronym, e.g.: SARS – (a) severe acute respiratory syndrome

(i) = initialism, e.g.: CD – (i) compact disc

(p) = pseudo-blend, e.g.: UNIFEM – (p) United Nations Development Fund for Women

(s) = symbol (none of the above, representing and pronounced as something else; for example: MHz – megahertz)

Some terms are spoken as either acronym or initialism, e.g., VoIP, pronounced both as voyp and V-O-I-P.

(Main list of acronyms and initialisms)

• f - (s) Femto
• F - (s) Farad - Fluorine

F

F'd in the A - (i) Used in Southpark.

FA

• fA - (s) Femtoampere
• FA - (i) Field Artillery - Financial Aid - Football Association (England)
• FAA - (i) U.S. Federal Aviation Administration - Financial Aid Administrator - Fleet Air Arm - Functional Area Analysis
• FAAD - (a) Forward Area Air Defence
• FAADEZ - (i) Forward Area Air Defence Engagement Zone
• FAAN - (i) Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
• FAAQ - (a/i) Frequently Asked and Anticipated Questions (cf. FAQ)
• FAASV - (i) Field Artillery Ammunition Supply Vehicle
• FAB - Feline Advisory Bureau, a UK feline charity
• FAC - (i) Forward Air Controller - Front of Allies for Change - Frontal Affinity Chromatography - Full Aperture Calibrator
• FACA - (a) (US) Federal Advisory Committee Act
• FACS - (a) Formal Aspects of Computing Science - Fluorescent-activated cell sorting
• FACTS - (a) Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System
• FAD - (i) Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide
• FADAC - (p) Field Artillery Data Computer
• FAH - (i) Federation of American Hospitals - Fine Arts and Humanities - Foreign Affairs Handbook
• FAI - (i) Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (French, "International Aeronautics Federation") – Football Association of Ireland
• FAM - (i) Foreign Affairs Manual
• FAO - (i) Food and Agriculture Organization
• FAQ - (a/i) Frequently Asked Questions (sometimes pronounced "fak")
• FARC - (a) Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Spanish, "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia")
• FARP - (a) Forward Arming and Refuelling Point / Forward Area Rearm/refuel Point
• FAS - (i) Federation of American Scientists - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• FASCAM - (p) Field Artillery Scatterable Mines
• FASD - (i) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
• FASEB - (a/i) Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
• FAT - (a) Field Artillery Tractor - File Allocation Table
• FAVS - (a) Future Armoured Vehicle System

FB

• FBCB2 or FBCB² - (p) Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade-and-Below
• FBCS - (i) Fellow of the British Computer Society
• FBI - (i) Federal Bureau of Investigation
• FBIS - (i) Foreign Broadcast Information Service
• FBIDST - (i) Fellow of the British Institute of Dental and Surgical Technologists
• FBR - (i) Fast Breeder Reactor - Foundation for Biomedical Research

FC

• fC - (s) Femtocoulomb
• FC - (i) Fire Control - (s) Funnel Cloud (METAR Code)
• FCA - (i) Fraction of Combat Active forces
• FCC - (i) U.S. Federal Communications Commission
• FCE - (i) First Certificate in English
• FCM - (i) Federation of Canadian Municipalities - Fogarty's Cove Music
• FCO - (i) UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• FCS - (i) Future Combat System
• FCW - (i) Florida Championship Wrestling
• FCZ - (i) Forward Combat Zone

FD

• FDA - (i) Food and Drug Administration (U.S.)
• FDC - (i) Federal Detention Center (U.S.) - Fire Direction Centre
• FDDI - (i) Fibre Distributed Data Interface
• FDR - (i) Flight Data Recorder - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

FE

• Fe - (s) Iron (Latin Ferrum)
• FE - (i) Fully Exposed (armoured vehicle target, as opposed to Hull-Down)
• FEAR - (a) First Encounter Assault Recon - False Evidence Appears Real
• FEAST - (a/i) Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology Cooperation
• FEBA - (a) Forward Edge of the Battle Area
• fec. - (p) fecit (Latin, "he made it")
• FED - (a/i) Field emission display
• FEDEP - (p) Federation Development Process (Simulation)
• FEF - (i) Frontal Eye Field (neurophysiology)
• FÉI - (i) Fédération équestre internationale (French "International Federation for Equestrian Sports")
• FEMA - (a/i) U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency
• FENS - (a/i) Federation of European Neuroscience Societies
• FEP - (i) Firepower Enhancement Program - Fleet satellite (FLTSAT) Extremely high frequency (EHF) Package
• FES - (i) Flywheel Energy Storage
• FET - (a) Field-Effect Transistor
• FEZ - (a/i) Fighter Engagement Zone

FF

• fF - (s) Femtofarad
• FF - (i) Final Fantasy
• FFA - (i) Forum Fisheries Agency - (i) Free-Fire Area - Fusiform Face Area - Football Federation Australia - Future Farmers of America (today the National FFA Organization)
• FFC - (i) Free For Chat
• FFE - (i) Fukuoka Futures Exchange
• FFF - (i) Fédération Française de Football (French, "French Football Federation")
• FFG - (s) Guided Missile Frigate (hull classification symbol)
• FFOV - (i) Forward Field Of View
• FFR - (i) Fédération Française de Rugby (French, "French Rugby Federation")
• FFS - (i) For Fuck's Sake
• FFT (i) Fast Fourier Transform - Final Fantasy Tactics

FG

• fg - (s) Femtogram
• FG - (s) Fog (METAR Code) - French Guiana (FIPS 10-4 territory code)

FH

• fH - (s) Femtohenry
• FHFIF - (i) Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
• FHI - (i) Family Health International, Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd.

FI

• FI - (s) Finland (ISO 3166 digram; FIPS 10-4 country code)
• FIA - (a) Fédération internationale de l'automobile (French "International Automobile Federation")
• FIAT - (a) Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian "Italian Car Factory of Turin")
• FIB - (a) Fucking Illinois Bastard (Wisconsin slang, variants exist)
• FIBA - (a) Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (French, "International Amateur Basketball Federation"; in 1989, the organization dropped "Amateur" from its official name but retained the initialism)
• FIBUA - (i/a) Fighting In Built-Up Areas
• FIC - (i) Fellowship for Intentional Community
• FID - (i) Foreign Internal Defence
• FIDÉ - (a) Fédération internationale des échecs (French "World Chess Federation")
• FIE - (i) Fly-In Echelon
• FIFA - (a) Fédération internationale de football association (French "International Association Football Federation")
• FIFe - (a) Fédération internationale féline (French "International Feline Federation")
• FIFO - (a) First In, First Out
• FIFRA - (a) Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
• FILO - (a) First In, Last Out (see also LIFO)
• FIMPT - (i) Fellow of the Institute of Maxillofacial Prosthetists and Technologists
• FIN - (s) Finland (ISO 3166 trigram)
• FINA - (p) Fédération internationale de natation (French, "International Swimming Federation")
• FIPS - (a) Federal Information Processing Standard
• FIR - (i) Final Inspection Report
• FIS - (a/i) Fédération internationale de ski (French "International Ski Federation")
• FISA - (a) Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Aviron (French, "International Federation of Rowing Associations")
• FISH - (a) Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridisation
• FiST - (p) Fire Support Team
• FITS - (a) Flexible Image Transport System
• FIU - (i) Florida International University

FJ

• fJ - (s) Femtojoule
• FJ - (s) Fiji (ISO 3166 digram; FIPS 10-4 country code)
• FJI - (s) Fiji (ISO 3166 trigram)

FK

• fK - (s) Femtokelvin
• FK - (s) Falkland Islands (ISO 3166 digram; FIPS 10-4 territory code)
• f.k.a. or F/K/A - (i) Formerly Known As
• FKSM - (i) Fort Knox Supplemental Manual

FL

• fl - (p) floruit (Latin, "living") (genealogy)
• fL - (s) Femtolitre
• FL - (s) Florida (postal symbol)
• FLA - (p) Florida - (i) Front Line Assembly - Future Large Aircraft
• FLAC - (a/i) Free Lossless Audio Codec.
• FLAK - (p) FLugAbwehrKanone (German for "Anti-Aircraft Guns")
• FLB - (i) Forward Logistics Base
• FLET - (a/i) Forward Line of Enemy Troops
• FLIP - (p) Flight Information Publication
• FLIR - (i) Forward Looking InfraRed (sensor)
• FLK - (s) Falkland Islands (ISO 3166 trigram) - (i) Funny-Looking Kid (medical diagnosis in-joke)
• FLOT - (a/i) Forward Line of Own Troops
• FLQ - (i) Front de libération du Québec (French for "Québec Liberation Front")
• FLTSAT - (p) Fleet Satellite
• FLTSATCOM - (p) Fleet Satellite Communication System
• FLUBOS - (a) Fat, Lazy, Useless, Bag Of Sh*t

FM

• fm - (s) Femtometre
• Fm - (s) Fermium
• FM - (i) Federal Magistrate (Australian post-nominal) - (s) Federated States of Micronesia (postal symbol; ISO 3166 digram; FIPS 10-4 territory code) - (i) Field Manual - Flight Manager - Frequency Modulation (electronics)
• FMC - (i) Federal Magistrates' Court (an Australian federal court, formerly FMS)
• FMCA - (i) Federal Magistrates' Court of Australia (used for citing decisions of the FMC other than family law decisions)
• FMCAfam - (i) Federal Magistrates' Court of Australia: family (used for citing family law decisions of the FMC)
• FME - (i) Formal Methods Europe
• FMECA - (i) Failure Modes and Effect Criticality Analysis
• fMRI - (i) Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• FMS - (i) Federal Magistrates Service (an Australian federal court, now FMC) - (i) Flight Management System - Foreign Military Sales
• FMSF - (i) False Memory Syndrome Foundation
• FMTV - (i) Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles

FN

• fN - (s) Femtonewton
• FNA - (i) Functional Needs Analysis

FO

• FO - (s) Faroe Islands (ISO 3166 digram; FIPS 10-4 territory code) - (i) Force Operations (military) - Forward Observer - Frame Optional (military symbology)
• FoB - (i) Free On Board (shipping)
• FOB - (i/a) Forward Operating Base
• FOC - (i) Full Operational Capability
• FoE - (p) Friends of the Earth
• FOGC - (i) Federal Oil and Gas Council
• FOH - (a) Front Of House
• FOIA - (a) Freedom of Information Act
• FOM - (a) Federation Object Model
• FONSI - (a) Finding of No Significant Impact
• FOO - (a) Forward Observation Officer
• FOR - (i) Field Of Regard - Frame Of Reference
• Fortran - (p) The IBM Mathematical FORmula TRANslating System (programming language)
• FOS - (i) Florida Ornithological Society - Full Operational Status
• FoS - (i) Family of Systems
• FOTA - (i) Fellow of the Orthodontic Technicians Association
• FOUO – (i) For Official Use Only
• FOV - (i) Field Of View

FP

• FP - (s) French Polynesia (FIPS 10-4 territory code)
• FPF - (i) Final Protective Fire
• fps - (s) frames per second (motion pictures, television, computer graphics)
• FPS - (i) Fire Prevention System - First Person Shooter (computer/video games)
• FOOP - (s) Friends Of Organ Pipes (Volunteer group)

FQ

• FQ - (s) Baker Island (FIPS 10-4 territory code) - French Southern and Antarctic Territories (ISO 3166 digram; obsolete 1979)
• FQDN - (i) Fully Qualified Domain Name

FR

• Fr - (s) Francium
• FR - (s) France (FIPS 10-4 country code; ISO 3166 digram)
• FRA - (i) Federal Railroad Administration - (s) France (ISO 3166 trigram)
• FRAGO - (p) Fragmentary Order (military)
• FRCP - (i) Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
• FRICBM - (i) Full Range ICBM
• FRO - (s) Faroe Islands (ISO 3166 trigram)
• FRS - (i) Fellow of the Royal Society - U.S. Federal Reserve System
• FRSA - (i) Fellow of the Royal Society of Art
• FRY - (i) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

FS

• fs - (s) Femtosecond
• fS - (s) Femtosiemens
• FS - Fire Support (military) - (s) French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FIPS 10-4 territory code)
• FSA - (i) Fire Support Area - UK Food Standards Agency - Functional Solution Analysis
• FSB - (i) Federal'naya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti Rossiyskoi Federatsii (Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности Росси́йской Федера́ции, Russian "Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation", succeeded the FSK in 1995) - Forward Support Battalion
• FSC - (i) Federal Supply Classification - (a) Forest Stewardship Council (ecological pressure group)
• FSCL - (i) Fire Support Co-ordination Line
• FSE - (i) Fire Support Element
• F&SF - (i) (The Magazine of) Fantasy & Science Fiction
• FSF - (i) Free Software Foundation
• FSH - (i) Follicle Stimulating Hormone
• FSI - (i) Fuel Stratified Injection
• FSK - (i) Federal'naya Sluzhba Kontrrazvedki (Федера́льная Слу́жба Контрразве́дки, Russian "Federal Counterintelligence Service", succeeded the KGB in 1991)
• FSM - (s) Federated States of Micronesia (ISO 3166 trigram)
• FSO - (i) Fire Support Officer - Flotilla Staff Officer - Foreign Service Officer
• FSS - (i) Fire Support Station
• FSSP - (i) Families of Structurally Similar Proteins
• FST - (i) Finance Support Team - Finlands Svenska Television (Finland's Swedish-language television) - Future Soviet Tank (Cold War era)
• FSTC - (i) Foreign Science Technology Center (now NGIC)
• FSV - (i) Fire Support Vehicle - Fisheries Survey Vessel - Flexible Sender Validation - Fort St. Vrain - Fußball und Sportverein (German "Football and Sport Association", as in FSV Mainz)

FT

• fT - (s) Femtotesla
• FTC - (i) Federal Trade Commission
• FTE - (i) Full Time Equivalent
• FTL - (i) Faster Than Light
• FTP - (i) File Transfer Protocol
• FTSE - (a/i) Financial Times Stock Exchange ("footsie")

FU

• FU - (s) Smoke (METAR Code)
• FUBAR - (a) Fucked/Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair
• f/u/b/o - (i) For the use and benefit of (found in legal documents)
• FUD - (a) Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (marketing strategy)
• FUCK - For, Unlawful, Carnal, Knowledge (Van Halen album title)

FV

• fV - (s) Femtovolt

FW

• fW - (s) Femtowatt
• FW - (s) Forward
• F/W - (i) Fixed Wing
• FWC - (i) Football World Cup
• FWF - (i) Fixed Word Format
• FWI - (i) French West Indies
• FWIW - (i) For What It's Worth
• FWS - (i) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• FWT - (i) Fresh Water Tank

FX

• FX - (s) Metropolitan France (ISO 3166 digram; obsolete 1997)
• FXX - (s) Metropolitan France (ISO 3166 trigram; obsolete 1997)

FY

• FY - (i) Fiscal Year - (s) Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (NATO country code)
• FYDP - (i) Five-Year Defense Plan (U.S.)
• FYI - (i) For Your Information
• FYROM - (a) Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia
• FX - (a) Firefox

FZ

• FZDZ - (s) Freezing Drizzle (METAR Code)
• FZFG - (s) Freezing Fog (METAR Code)
• FZRA - (s) Freezing Rain (METAR Code)

See also

• List of acronyms and initialisms