DV
Abbreviation with 5 meanings
| Stands for | Domestic violence |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 5 |
| Categories | Government & Politics, Science & Engineering, Technology & Computing, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | D.V. |
DV has five meanings. The most common are Domestic violence (police) and Dependent variable (psychology); it can also stand for Diversity Immigrant Visa, Digital Video and Deo volente (God willing).
Meanings of DV at a glance
| # | DV stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domestic violence | Government & Politics › Police |
| 2 | Dependent variable | Science & Engineering › Psychology |
| 3 | Diversity Immigrant Visa | Government & Politics › Public Program |
| 4 | Digital Video | Technology & Computing › Consumer Electronics |
| 5 | Deo volente (God willing) | Writing & Everyday › Latin |
1. Domestic violence
Government & Politics · Police Abbreviations · also used in law
Abuse, threats or violence between intimate partners, spouses, family or household members. Police in many US states must arrest when they find probable cause of DV.
Example: Officers responded to a DV call and arrested the husband for assault after seeing the injuries.
Mandatory-arrest laws spread in the 1980s and 1990s. The federal Lautenberg Amendment of 1996 bars people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from possessing firearms. DV calls are considered among the most dangerous for officers. Protective orders often accompany DV cases.
2. Dependent variable
Science & Engineering · Psychology Abbreviations
Outcome that is measured in a study to see whether it changes in response to the independent variable, such as test scores, reaction times, symptom ratings or brain activity. Its value is thought to "depend" on the manipulated factor.
Example: The DV was the number of words correctly recalled after a 20-minute delay.
Choosing a reliable, valid DV is central to good research design. Studies can have several DVs, which increases the risk of false positives unless statistically corrected. In other settings DV most often means domestic violence.
3. Diversity Immigrant Visa
Government & Politics · Public Program Abbreviations
Lottery program, often called the green card lottery, that makes up to 55,000 immigrant visas available each year to people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Winners must have a high school education or qualifying work experience.
Example: He checked the State Department website and learned he had been selected in the DV lottery.
Created by the Immigration Act of 1990, it is run by the State Department, with free online registration usually held each fall. Being selected does not guarantee a visa, since more people are selected than visas available. Scam websites that charge fees to "enter" are common.
4. Digital Video
Technology & Computing · Consumer Electronics Abbreviations
Digital videotape format introduced in 1995 by a consortium of electronics makers, recording standard-definition video at 25 Mbit/s, most often on small MiniDV cassettes. It brought near-professional quality and computer editing to consumers and independent filmmakers.
Example: The 2003 family videos are on MiniDV tapes, so I need a DV camcorder and FireWire to capture them.
Camcorders transferred DV footage to computers over FireWire (IEEE 1394) without quality loss. Professional variants included Sony's DVCAM and Panasonic's DVCPRO. Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002) was shot largely on DV camcorders. Sony announced in 2025 that it would stop making MiniDV cassettes. In HDR video, DV is also shorthand for Dolby Vision.
5. Deo volente (God willing) (D.V.)
Writing & Everyday · Latin Abbreviations · also used in religion
Adds a note of piety and contingency to a stated plan, meaning the event will happen if God allows. It appears in older letters, church notices and some religious communities today.
Example: We plan to visit Grandmother in Aberdeen next August, D.V., if her health allows the journey.
Comparable expressions include the Arabic "in sha' Allah" and the Hebrew "im yirtzeh Hashem," both common in speech. The Latin initials were frequent in Victorian correspondence and nonconformist chapel announcements. The idea is often traced to the Epistle of James 4:15: "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."
Related abbreviations
More police abbreviations
- DOA – Dead on arrival
- DRE – Drug recognition expert
- DS – Detective Sergeant
- DUI – Driving under the influence
- DWI – Driving while intoxicated
- DWLS – Driving while license suspended
- EDP – Emotionally disturbed person
- FTA – Failure to appear
See all 84 police abbreviations →