BN
Abbreviation with 4 meanings
| Stands for | Bulimia nervosa |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 4 |
| Categories | Medical, Units & Measurements, Military, Geography & Places |
| Also written | Bn, bn |
BN has four meanings. The most common are Bulimia nervosa (mental health & psychiatry) and Billion (math); it can also stand for Battalion and Brunei.
Meanings of BN at a glance
| # | BN stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bulimia nervosa | Medical › Mental Health & Psychiatry |
| 2 | Billion | Units & Measurements › Math |
| 3 | Battalion | Military › Military Unit and Organization |
| 4 | Brunei | Geography & Places › Country Code |
1. Bulimia nervosa
Medical · Mental Health & Psychiatry Abbreviations
Eating disorder involving recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, laxative misuse, fasting or excessive exercise, at least weekly for three months, with self-worth unduly tied to body shape and weight. Most patients are of normal weight.
Example: BN with daily vomiting, potassium 2.9, Russell's sign; start CBT-E and fluoxetine 60 mg.
British psychiatrist Gerald Russell described it in 1979, and calluses on the knuckles from induced vomiting are called Russell's sign. Fluoxetine at 60 mg daily is FDA-approved for BN. Enhanced CBT (CBT-E) is the leading psychotherapy. Purging can cause dangerous electrolyte imbalances and dental erosion.
2. Billion (bn)
Units & Measurements · Math Abbreviations
Abbreviation for billion favored by British newspapers, The Economist, the Financial Times and many company reports, as in £4bn or $2.5bn.
Example: The government announced a £3bn package to repair schools and hospitals.
Typically written straight after the number with no space. Companion forms include m for million and trn or tn for trillion. Because bn always means the short-scale billion (10^9) in modern usage, it sidesteps the old British ambiguity in which a billion was a million million.
3. Battalion (Bn)
Military · Military Unit and Organization Abbreviations
Military unit of three to five companies, roughly 300 to 1,000 soldiers or Marines, commanded by a lieutenant colonel with a command sergeant major or sergeant major. Battalions have a staff that plans and supports operations.
Example: 2nd Bn, 506th Infantry Regiment, returned from its deployment to Iraq on Tuesday.
Army designations often write the battalion and regiment together, as in "2-506 IN" for the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry. Battalion-size cavalry units are called squadrons. The word comes from Italian "battaglione," from "battaglia," battle.
4. Brunei
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
Brunei Darussalam, an oil-rich sultanate on Borneo with Bandar Seri Begawan as its capital and BRN as its alpha-3 code, is ruled by one of the world's longest-reigning monarchs.
Example: Oil and gas tenders from BN are published in English and Malay.
The language code bn means Bengali, not Brunei. The Brunei dollar is interchangeable at par with the Singapore dollar.
Related abbreviations
More mental health & psychiatry abbreviations
- BDD – Body dysmorphic disorder
- BDI – Beck Depression Inventory
- BED – Binge eating disorder
- BH – Behavioral health
- BPAD – Bipolar affective disorder
- BPD – Borderline personality disorder
- C-PTSD – Complex post-traumatic stress disorder
- C-SSRS – Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale
See all 100 mental health & psychiatry abbreviations →
More math abbreviations
- arg – Argument (of a complex number)
- ASA – Angle-Side-Angle (congruence)
- B – Billion
- BEDMAS – Brackets, Exponents, Division/Multiplication, Addition/Subtraction
- BODMAS – Brackets, Orders, Division/Multiplication, Addition/Subtraction
- C – Complex numbers
- cis – Cosine plus i sine
- Cor – Corollary
See all 91 math abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.