QC
Abbreviation with 5 meanings
| Stands for | Quebec |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 5 |
| Categories | Geography & Places, Business & Finance, Law & Legal, Medical, Technology & Computing |
QC has five meanings. The most common are Quebec (Canadian province and territory) and Quality control (management & strategy); it can also stand for Queen's Counsel, Quad cane and Quick Charge.
Meanings of QC at a glance
| # | QC stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quebec | Geography & Places › Canadian Province and Territory |
| 2 | Quality control | Business & Finance › Management & Strategy |
| 3 | Queen's Counsel | Law & Legal › Legal Profession |
| 4 | Quad cane | Medical › Rehabilitation |
| 5 | Quick Charge | Technology & Computing › Consumer Electronics |
1. Quebec
Geography & Places · Canadian Province and Territory Abbreviations
Largest province by area and the only one with French as its sole official language, home to about 8.9 million people. Quebec City is the capital, Montreal the largest city, and postal codes begin with G, H or J.
Example: Send the invoice to 1000 rue Sherbrooke O, Montréal QC H3A 3G4.
QC replaced the older postal symbol PQ (Province of Quebec). Canadian Press writes Que. after city names, and Québec with the accent is standard in French. QC also means quality control and Queen's Counsel, the honorific for senior lawyers now styled King's Counsel (KC).
2. Quality control
Business & Finance · Management & Strategy Abbreviations
Product-focused activities that inspect, test or measure output to catch defects before goods or services reach the customer. QC checks might include sampling finished units, lab testing raw materials or reviewing documents for errors.
Example: QC rejected the lot after 3 of 50 sampled bottles failed the torque test on their caps.
QC is one part of the broader quality assurance system: QA designs the process, and QC verifies the result. Acceptance sampling plans, such as those in ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, guide how many items to inspect. In publishing and video production, QC also means a final check of the finished copy or file.
3. Queen's Counsel
Law & Legal · Legal Profession Abbreviations
Senior rank for barristers and some solicitors used during a queen's reign in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and several Commonwealth jurisdictions, until Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 and the title became King's Counsel. Many older judgments and law reports name counsel as QC.
Example: The 2015 judgment records that counsel for the appellant was a QC from a London chambers.
Practice varies in Canadian provinces and Australian states, some of which switched to KC and others to Senior Counsel. Anyone appointed under Elizabeth II, from 1952, was a QC; earlier holders under kings were KCs. QC is also the postal abbreviation for Quebec, and in manufacturing it means quality control.
4. Quad cane
Medical · Rehabilitation Abbreviations
Cane with a rectangular base and four small feet, giving more stability than a single-point cane. Bases come in small (SBQC) and large (LBQC) sizes.
Example: Hemiparesis: ambulates with LBQC in R hand, Min A for L foot clearance.
Common after stroke when one arm cannot use a walker. The flat side of the base faces away from the body to avoid tripping. Quad canes are slower than standard canes, so patients often progress to a single-point cane as balance improves.
5. Quick Charge
Technology & Computing · Consumer Electronics Abbreviations
Qualcomm's proprietary fast-charging technology for phones and accessories, raising voltage above the standard 5 volts to deliver more power. Versions range from Quick Charge 1.0 (2013) to Quick Charge 5 (2020).
Example: The charger supports QC 3.0, so my Android phone reaches 50 percent in about half an hour.
QC requires support in both the charger and the device, typically one with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Quick Charge 4 and later are compatible with the open USB Power Delivery standard, which has become the industry's common fast-charging method. QC also means quality control in manufacturing.
Related abbreviations
More Canadian province and territory abbreviations
- Ont. – Ontario
- PE – Prince Edward Island
- PEI – Prince Edward Island
- PQ – Province of Quebec
- Que. – Quebec
- Sask. – Saskatchewan
- SK – Saskatchewan
- YK – Yukon
See all 26 Canadian province and territory abbreviations →
More management & strategy abbreviations
- PESTLE – Political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental
- PMF – Product-market fit
- QA – Quality assurance (software)
- QBR – Quarterly business review
- R&D – Research and development
- RCA – Root cause analysis
- RFI – Request for information
- RFP – Request for proposal
See all 92 management & strategy abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical or legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.