Abbreviationes™: The first database of medieval Latin abbreviations

Abbreviationes™ – Medieval Abbreviations Made Easy

“Take a foreign language, write it in an unfamiliar script, abbreviating every third word, and you have the compound puzzle that is the medieval Latin manuscript.”¹ Solving this puzzle is both an art and a science. We can provide the science to the artist.

Abbreviationes™, the first database of medieval Latin abbreviations (first publicly shown in 1992, generally available since 1993), is a great tool for deciphering and transcribing medieval Latin manuscripts. It is a standard reference work and reflects the state of contemporary scholarship. Originally developed for the Apple Macintosh family of computers, Abbreviationes™ is now published exclusively on the Internet, following the long-term trend away from native applications to Web-based applications (“cloud computing”). The benefits are manifold. Abbreviationes™ is now just a browser away. All you need is a Web browser connected to the Internet. That’s it. There is nothing to install, no settings to configure, and no usernames or passwords to remember. And you can access Abbreviationes™ from anywhere that you have an Internet connection and a Web browser, even from your smartphone. Free trial accounts are available.

Abbreviationes™ Online

¹ The elements of abbreviation in medieval Latin paleography by Adriano Cappelli. Translated by David Heimann and Richard Kay, Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries, 1982 (University of Kansas Publications. Library Series, 47), Preface, i.