NS
Abbreviation with 14 meanings
| Stands for | Normal saline |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 14 |
| Categories | Medical, Geography & Places, Transportation & Travel, Units & Measurements, Science & Engineering, Technology & Computing, Texting & Internet Slang, Writing & Everyday |
| Also written | N.S., n.s., ns |
NS has 14 meanings. The most common are Normal saline (pharmacy) and Nova Scotia (Canadian province and territory); it can also stand for Norfolk Southern, Nephrotic syndrome, Not significant (statistically), Nanosecond and Neutron star, plus 7 more listed below.
Meanings of NS at a glance
| # | NS stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Normal saline | Medical › Pharmacy |
| 2 | Nova Scotia | Geography & Places › Canadian Province and Territory |
| 3 | Norfolk Southern | Transportation & Travel › Rail and Transit |
| 4 | Nephrotic syndrome | Medical › Nephrology & Urology |
| 5 | Not significant (statistically) | Medical › Medical Research |
| 6 | Nanosecond | Units & Measurements › Time |
| 7 | Neutron star | Science & Engineering › Astronomy & Space |
| 8 | Name server (record) | Technology & Computing › Networking |
| 9 | Nice shot | Texting & Internet Slang › Gaming Slang |
| 10 | Non-smoker | Texting & Internet Slang › Dating and Relationship |
| 11 | New Style | Writing & Everyday › Citation and Bibliography |
| 12 | Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) | Transportation & Travel › Rail and Transit |
| 13 | National Seashore | Geography & Places › Geographic Feature |
| 14 | New series | Writing & Everyday › Citation and Bibliography |
1. Normal saline
Medical · Pharmacy Abbreviations
Sterile 0.9% sodium chloride solution, the most widely used IV fluid, given for fluid resuscitation, dehydration, flushing lines and diluting drugs. Each liter contains 154 mEq of sodium and 154 mEq of chloride.
Example: Bolus 1 L NS over 30 minutes, then NS at 100 mL/h.
Despite the name, NS is not truly "normal": its chloride concentration is well above that of plasma, and large volumes can cause hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Trials such as SMART (2018) found balanced crystalloids like lactated Ringer's slightly reduced kidney complications in critically ill adults. The term "normal" comes from 19th-century chemistry.
2. Nova Scotia
Geography & Places · Canadian Province and Territory Abbreviations
Maritime province on a peninsula and Cape Breton Island, a founding member of Confederation in 1867. Halifax is the capital and largest city, the Bay of Fundy along its western shore has the world's highest tides, and postal codes begin with B.
Example: Lobster season opened on the South Shore of NS on the last Monday in November.
Canadian Press style is N.S. The name is Latin for New Scotland, from a 1621 royal charter, and Scottish Gaelic heritage remains strong on Cape Breton. NS also abbreviates not significant in statistics and National Seashore on US maps.
3. Norfolk Southern
Transportation & Travel · Rail and Transit Abbreviations
Major freight railroad in the eastern United States, headquartered in Atlanta, formed in 1982 by merging the Norfolk and Western and Southern railways. It operates about 19,000 route miles.
Example: The NS derailment in East Palestine led to a federal investigation and new safety proposals.
A Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023, prompting evacuations and a controversial controlled burn of vinyl chloride. In 2025 Union Pacific agreed to buy Norfolk Southern, which would create the first US coast-to-coast freight railroad if approved. In the Netherlands, NS is the national passenger railway.
4. Nephrotic syndrome
Medical · Nephrology & Urology Abbreviations
Kidney syndrome defined by heavy proteinuria of more than 3.5 g per day in adults, low serum albumin and edema, usually with high cholesterol. Common causes include minimal change disease in children and membranous nephropathy, FSGS and diabetes in adults; patients are prone to clots and infections.
Example: Anasarca, urine protein 9 g/day, albumin 1.8 g/dL: NS, biopsy scheduled and anticoagulation discussed.
On medication orders NS almost always means normal saline (0.9 percent sodium chloride), so nephrology notes usually spell out "nephrotic". Foamy urine is a typical early complaint. Loss of antithrombin and other proteins in the urine explains the high rate of venous thrombosis. Nephritic syndrome is a separate pattern dominated by hematuria.
5. Not significant (statistically)
Medical · Medical Research Abbreviations
Label used in tables and figures to show that a comparison did not reach the prespecified threshold for statistical significance, usually a p-value of 0.05 or more. It does not prove that groups are equivalent or that an effect is absent.
Example: Difference in 30-day mortality between arms: NS (p = 0.21).
Statisticians recommend reporting exact p-values and confidence intervals rather than just "NS", because an underpowered study can miss real effects. Demonstrating equivalence requires a dedicated equivalence or noninferiority design. On IV orders NS means normal saline, so research tables and fluid orders use the letters very differently.
6. Nanosecond (ns)
Units & Measurements · Time Abbreviations
One billionth of a second, the time scale of computer memory access and processor cycles. A 3 GHz processor completes one clock cycle in a third of a nanosecond, and light travels about 30 cm, roughly one foot, in one ns.
Example: DRAM access latency is typically around 60 to 100 ns.
Satellite navigation depends on clocks accurate to nanoseconds, since each nanosecond of timing error shifts a GPS position fix by about 30 cm. Electronic trading firms invest in shorter fiber routes and microwave links to shave microseconds and nanoseconds off order times. Memory timings such as CL16 are counted in clock cycles and convert to ns depending on frequency.
7. Neutron star
Science & Engineering · Astronomy & Space Abbreviations
Collapsed core of a massive star after a supernova, packing more than the Sun's mass into a sphere about 20 kilometers across. Neutron star matter is so dense that a teaspoon would weigh about a billion tonnes on Earth; rapidly spinning, magnetized neutron stars are seen as pulsars.
Example: The NS merger produced a kilonova that forged heavy elements such as gold and platinum.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the first pulsar in 1967 as a PhD student at Cambridge; her supervisor Antony Hewish shared the 1974 Nobel Prize. The heaviest known neutron stars are a little over two solar masses; beyond some limit they collapse into black holes. Magnetars are neutron stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields.
8. Name server (record)
Technology & Computing · Networking Abbreviations
Lists the authoritative name servers for a domain or zone; the registry publishes these in the parent zone so resolvers know where to look the domain up. Changing name servers moves a domain's DNS hosting to a new provider.
Example: Point the domain's NS records to Cloudflare and wait for the registry to update.
A domain should have at least two name servers, ideally on separate networks. When name servers sit inside the same domain they serve, the parent zone needs "glue" address records to avoid a circular lookup. NS has many other meanings, such as Nova Scotia; in DNS tools it always means name server.
9. Nice shot
Texting & Internet Slang · Gaming Slang Abbreviations
Compliment for an impressive shot or kill, typed in shooters such as Counter-Strike, Valorant and Call of Duty, or in sports games like golf simulations.
Example: Ns, that AWP flick across mid was unreal.
Like NT, it supports team morale. Sarcastic "ns" after a lucky shot from an opponent is common banter. On dating profiles NS means "non-smoker," an unrelated sense.
10. Non-smoker
Texting & Internet Slang · Dating and Relationship Abbreviations
Personal-ad and dating-profile code stating that the person does not smoke, or wants a partner who doesn't, as in "NS only." Also common in roommate listings and rental ads.
Example: Female, 35, NS, GSOH, looking for someone who loves the outdoors.
Part of the compact code system of newspaper personals, alongside GSOH and WLTM. Dating apps now replace it with lifestyle filters for smoking, drinking and cannabis. In gaming chat, "ns" means "nice shot," a sense the setting makes obvious.
11. New Style (N.S.)
Writing & Everyday · Citation and Bibliography Abbreviations
Marks a date in the Gregorian calendar, used when a historical date might otherwise be read as Julian. It is often paired with O.S. to show both reckonings.
Example: Peter the Great died on 8 February 1725 (N.S.), or 28 January by the Julian calendar then used in Russia.
Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582; Catholic countries adopted it first, and Protestant and Orthodox countries followed over the next three centuries. The gap between the calendars was 10 days in the 16th and 17th centuries, 11 in the 18th, 12 in the 19th and 13 since 1900. Lowercase n.s. means "new series" in journal citations.
12. Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways)
Transportation & Travel · Rail and Transit Abbreviations
National passenger railway of the Netherlands, running frequent yellow-and-blue intercity and local trains across the country. Its trains have run on electricity from wind power since 2017.
Example: NS Intercity trains leave Amsterdam Centraal for Schiphol every few minutes.
Founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in Europe, and NS serves Schiphol Airport directly. Travelers pay with OV-chipkaart smart cards or by tapping bank cards. In US railroading, NS stands for Norfolk Southern, an unrelated freight railroad.
13. National Seashore
Geography & Places · Geographic Feature Abbreviations
National Park Service designation for protected coastline, such as Cape Hatteras NS in North Carolina, the first, plus Cape Cod NS and Point Reyes NS.
Example: Wild ponies roam Assateague Island NS.
NS is also Nova Scotia's postal code and abbreviates not significant in statistics.
14. New series (n.s.)
Writing & Everyday · Citation and Bibliography Abbreviations
Marks a new series of a periodical that restarted its volume numbering, often after a change of title, editor or publisher. Citations include it so readers can find the right volume.
Example: Notes and Queries, n.s., vol. 45, no. 2 (1998), prints the letter for the first time.
Some journals use "3rd ser." or "new ser." instead, and Chicago abbreviates "new series" as n.s. and "old series" as o.s. Without the series designation, two different volumes with the same number could be confused. In statistics, n.s. more commonly means "not significant," marking a result that failed a significance test.
Related abbreviations
More pharmacy abbreviations
- NCPDP – National Council for Prescription Drug Programs
- NDA – New Drug Application
- NDC – National Drug Code
- NF – Non-formulary
- NSS – Normal saline solution
- ODT – Orally disintegrating tablet
- oint – Ointment
- OROS – Osmotic-controlled release oral delivery system
See all 134 pharmacy abbreviations →
More Canadian province and territory abbreviations
- NB – New Brunswick
- Nfld. – Newfoundland
- NL – Newfoundland and Labrador
- NT – Northwest Territories
- NU – Nunavut
- NWT – Northwest Territories
- ON – Ontario
- Ont. – Ontario
See all 26 Canadian province and territory abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.