AA
Abbreviation with 11 meanings
| Stands for | Alcoholics Anonymous |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 11 |
| Categories | Organizations & Companies, Education & Academia, Transportation & Travel, Medical, Geography & Places, Science & Engineering, Business & Finance, Texting & Internet Slang, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | aa |
AA has 11 meanings. The most common are Alcoholics Anonymous (nonprofit) and Associate of Arts (degree); it can also stand for American Airlines, Alopecia areata, Armed Forces Americas, Amino acid and Administrative assistant, plus 4 more listed below.
Meanings of AA at a glance
| # | AA stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcoholics Anonymous | Organizations & Companies › Nonprofit |
| 2 | Associate of Arts | Education & Academia › Degree |
| 3 | American Airlines | Transportation & Travel › Airline Code |
| 4 | Alopecia areata | Medical › Dermatology |
| 5 | Armed Forces Americas | Geography & Places › US Territory and Military Mail |
| 6 | Amino acid | Science & Engineering › Biology |
| 7 | Administrative assistant | Business & Finance › Job Title |
| 8 | Affirmative action | Business & Finance › Human Resources |
| 9 | Auto attack | Texting & Internet Slang › Gaming Slang |
| 10 | Ana (of each) | Medical › Prescription |
| 11 | Author's alteration | Writing & Everyday › Proofreading and Correction Mark |
1. Alcoholics Anonymous
Organizations & Companies · Nonprofit Abbreviations
Worldwide fellowship of people who help each other stay sober through mutual support and its Twelve Steps program of recovery, meeting in local groups. It charges no dues and accepts no outside contributions.
Example: He has been going to AA meetings every week for three years.
Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith founded it in Akron, Ohio, in 1935, and its basic text, known as the Big Book, appeared in 1939. It has more than 100,000 groups worldwide. Anonymity is a core tradition, so members typically use first names only. Its model inspired many other twelve-step groups.
2. Associate of Arts
Education & Academia · Degree Abbreviations
Two-year undergraduate degree of about 60 semester credits centered on general education in the humanities, social sciences and communication. Most AA graduates of US community colleges transfer to a four-year school and enter as juniors under state articulation agreements.
Example: She finished her AA at Valencia College and transferred to UCF as a junior.
Written A.A. in AP style and AA in Chicago style. Compared with the AS, the AA has fewer math and laboratory requirements and more liberal arts. Florida's 2+2 system guarantees AA graduates of its state colleges admission to a state university, though not to a particular campus or major.
3. American Airlines
Transportation & Travel · Airline Code Abbreviations
World's largest airline by fleet size and passengers carried in most recent years, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, with its largest hub at Dallas Fort Worth. American is a founding member of the oneworld alliance.
Example: AA 100 from JFK to Heathrow is one of the airline's oldest transatlantic flight numbers.
ICAO code AAL; radio callsign "American." The airline traces its roots to 1930 and adopted the American Airlines name in 1934. Its 2013 merger with US Airways created the largest airline in the world. Other hubs include Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare, Miami, Philadelphia and Phoenix. The letters AA also commonly mean Alcoholics Anonymous, an unrelated meaning.
4. Alopecia areata
Medical · Dermatology Abbreviations
Autoimmune hair loss that causes smooth, round bald patches on the scalp, beard or body, sometimes progressing to total scalp (totalis) or body (universalis) hair loss. Hair often regrows on its own, but the course is unpredictable.
Example: Patchy AA, 3 patches on scalp with exclamation-point hairs; intralesional triamcinolone.
Short "exclamation point" hairs at the edge of patches are characteristic. JAK inhibitors, beginning with baricitinib in 2022, were the first FDA-approved treatments for severe alopecia areata. Nail pitting may accompany it. Outside dermatology AA most often means Alcoholics Anonymous.
5. Armed Forces Americas
Geography & Places · US Territory and Military Mail Abbreviations
State-position code for military and diplomatic mail to units in Central and South America and the Caribbean, used with APO, FPO or DPO and ZIP codes beginning 340. It excludes Canada, which falls under AE.
Example: Unit 5000 Box 12, FPO AA 34051 is the mailing address for the naval station staff.
AA, AE and AP replaced older gateway-city addresses such as APO Miami and FPO New York. Do not add a country or local city to the address. AA also abbreviates Alcoholics Anonymous, American Airlines and the AA battery size.
6. Amino acid
Science & Engineering · Biology Abbreviations
Building block of proteins: an organic molecule with an amino group, a carboxyl group and a distinctive side chain. Twenty standard amino acids are encoded by the genetic code, nine of which are essential for humans and must come from the diet.
Example: The mature peptide is 29 AA long and is cleaved from a larger precursor.
Written aa in sequence descriptions, such as a 350-aa protein. Each amino acid has three-letter and one-letter codes, for example Gly or G for glycine and Trp or W for tryptophan. Selenocysteine and pyrrolysine are rare additional amino acids encoded by reinterpreted stop codons. AA has many unrelated meanings, from batteries to Alcoholics Anonymous.
7. Administrative assistant
Business & Finance · Job Title Abbreviations
Office support role responsible for answering phones, scheduling, filing, data entry, ordering supplies and preparing documents for a team or department. It is a common entry-level position across industries.
Example: The department's AA tracks all purchase requests and books the conference rooms.
Similar titles include administrative coordinator, office assistant and secretary, a word that has become less common in job titles. Administrative Professionals Day is observed in late April in the United States. AA is also widely known as Alcoholics Anonymous, American Airlines and an associate degree.
8. Affirmative action
Business & Finance · Human Resources Abbreviations
Policies requiring employers, especially government contractors, to take active steps to recruit and advance groups that have faced discrimination, such as setting placement goals and widening outreach. Goals are not quotas, which are generally unlawful in hiring.
Example: The job posting still carries an EOE/AA tagline from the company's federal contracting days.
Affirmative action for federal contractors began with Executive Order 11246, signed in 1965; that order was revoked in January 2025, ending its race- and sex-based requirements. Obligations toward people with disabilities under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and toward protected veterans under VEVRAA come from statutes and remain. In 2023 the Supreme Court separately ended race-conscious college admissions.
9. Auto attack
Texting & Internet Slang · Gaming Slang Abbreviations
Basic attack a character performs automatically on a target without using abilities, central to MOBAs and MMORPGs. Players talk about "AA resets" and "AA cancels."
Example: Weave an AA between each ability to maximize damage.
Marksman champions in League of Legends rely heavily on AAs, and attack speed items increase how often they happen. Animation canceling, interrupting an AA's ending to move sooner, is an advanced skill. Outside games, AA usually means Alcoholics Anonymous or the battery size.
10. Ana (of each) (aa)
Medical · Prescription Abbreviations
Compounding notation meaning equal amounts of each of the preceding ingredients. Traditionally written with a bar over the letters, it appears in older formularies and in magistral prescriptions still common in parts of Europe and Latin America.
Example: Rx: zinc oxide, talc aa 20 g; glycerin q.s.
From Greek "ana", "throughout" or "of each". Usually written "āā" or "aa". It is almost never seen in modern US prescriptions, where each ingredient's amount is written separately to avoid miscalculation.
11. Author's alteration
Writing & Everyday · Proofreading and Correction Mark Abbreviations
Marks a change on a proof made at the author's request rather than to fix a typesetting error. Publishers track AAs because authors may be charged for excessive changes at proof stage.
Example: The contract allows AAs up to 10 percent of composition costs, after which the author pays.
AAs are distinguished from PEs (printer's errors), which the typesetter corrects at no charge. Book contracts commonly limit author alterations at proof stage because late changes can disturb pagination and the index. Some publishers also track editor's alterations separately.
Related abbreviations
More nonprofit abbreviations
- 4-H – 4-H
- 501(c)(3) – Section 501(c)(3) organization
- 501(c)(4) – Section 501(c)(4) organization
- AAA – American Automobile Association
- AARP – AARP (formerly American Association of Retired Persons)
- AAUW – American Association of University Women
- ACLU – American Civil Liberties Union
- ACS – American Cancer Society
See all 91 nonprofit abbreviations →
More degree abbreviations
- AAS – Associate of Applied Science
- AAT – Associate of Arts in Teaching
- AB – Artium Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Arts)
- ADN – Associate Degree in Nursing
- AFA – Associate of Fine Arts
- AGS – Associate in General Studies
- ALM – Artium Liberalium Magister (Master of Liberal Arts)
- AM – Artium Magister (Master of Arts)
See all 139 degree abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.