AB, Ab, or ab may refer to:

In arts and media

Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai Bach ...

, an Indian actor *

Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former ba ...

, an American hard rock band * American Bandstand, a music-performance television show * Amitabh Bachchan, an Indian actor * ''

Analecta Bollandiana The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century ...

'', an academic journal *

Ancienne Belgique Ancienne Belgique (French for "Old Belgium") is a concert hall for contemporary music in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the historic heart of Brussels, it is one of the leading concert venues in Belgium, hosting a wide variety of international and l ...

, a Belgian concert hall located in Brussels * ''

Angry Birds ''Angry Birds'' is a Finnish action-based media franchise created by Rovio Entertainment. The game series focuses on the eponymous flock of angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. Inspired by the game ''Crush the Castl ...

'', a 2009 puzzle video game by Rovio Entertainment

In business

Business terminology

* ''Akcinė bendrovė'', Lithuanian equivalent of an S.A. corporation * Aktiebolag, Swedish for "corporation", similar to AG, Ltd or Inc

Businesses

* A & B High Performance Firearms, a defunct sporting firearms manufacturer * AB Airlines, a defunct British airline *

AB Groupe Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French business group in the field of broadcasting. It was founded in 1977 by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda as a music production company, and in 1987 went into the world of television ...

, a French broadcasting group *

Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Viven ...

, American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment *

Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...

(IATA airline code AB) * Alderson-Broaddus College, a liberal-arts college in West Virginia *

Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos (Άλφα-Βήτα Βασιλόπουλος) or simply AB is a supermarket chain based in Greece.Basic ...

, a Greek supermarket chain * Allen-Bradley, a brand of industrial control products, manufactured by Rockwell Automation *

AllianceBernstein AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) is a global asset management firm providing investment management and research services worldwide to institutional, high-net-worth and retail investors. AllianceBernstein's headquarters are located in Nashvill ...

(New York Stock Exchange Symbol AB), a US-based asset management firm * American Biograph, AB used as a film logo *

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

, the world's third largest brewing company

Occupations and ranks

Able Seaman (occupation) An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination o ...

, a civilian occupation * Able Seaman (rank), a naval rank *

Airman Basic Airman basic (AB) is the lowest enlisted rank in the United States Air Force immediately below airman. The pay grade for airman basic is E-1. As opposed to all other USAF enlisted and officer ranks, airman basic has no rank insignia affiliated. ...

, the lowest rank in the United States Air Force

Organizations

Afrikaner Broederbond The Afrikaner Broederbond (AB) or simply the Broederbond was an exclusively Afrikaner Calvinist and male secret society in South Africa dedicated to the advancement of the Afrikaner people. It was founded by H. J. Klopper, H. W. van der Merwe, ...

, a South African secret society from 1918 to 1994 *

Aryan Brotherhood The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the Brand or the AB, is a neo-Nazi prison gang and an organized crime syndicate which is based in the United States and has an estimated 15,000–20,000 members both inside and outside prisons. The Southern P ...

, an American gang

Places

* Anzab-e Olya, also called Ab, a village in Iran *

AB postcode area The AB postcode area, also known as the Aberdeen postcode area Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) is a group of 33 postcode districts in north-east Scotland, within 24 post towns. These cover the Aberdeen council area (including t ...

, UK, including Aberdeen, Scotland * Atlantic Beach, FL, also called AB, a city in the United States *

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

(WMO country code) *

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

(Canadian Province/Territory Code) * Air Base, used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

for overseas bases *

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the Aschaffenburg (district), district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative sea ...

, Germany (on vehicle registration plates)

Science, technology and mathematics

Medicine

* AB blood, a blood type in the ABO blood group system *

AB toxin The AB toxins are two-component protein complexes secreted by a number of pathogenic bacteria, though there is a pore-forming AB toxin found the eggs of a snail. They can be classified as Type III toxins because they interfere with internal cell ...

, Type III toxin secreted by some pathogenic bacteria *

Antibody An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...

, a medical abbreviation * Abs, common name for the

rectus abdominis muscle The rectus abdominis muscle, ( la, straight abdominal) also known as the "abdominal muscle" or simply the "abs", is a paired straight muscle. It is a paired muscle, separated by a midline band of connective tissue called the linea alba. It ex ...

, a paired stomach muscle

Other uses in science, technology, and mathematics

* AB (star catalogue), Azzopardi / Breysacher catalogue of Wolf Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud * Aggregate base *

Albite Albite is a plagioclase feldspar mineral. It is the sodium endmember of the plagioclase solid solution series. It represents a plagioclase with less than 10% anorthite content. The pure albite endmember has the formula . It is a tectosilicate ...

, a feldspar mineral * Ammonia borane, a chemical compound * ''Alabamine'', a former name of

Astatine Astatine is a chemical element with the symbol At and atomic number 85. It is the rarest naturally occurring element in the Earth's crust, occurring only as the decay product of various heavier elements. All of astatine's isotopes are short-li ...

* AB Class amplifier, a classification of electric

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost t ...

* The category of abelian groups (Ab), in mathematics *

NZR Ab class The NZR AB class was a class of 4-6-2 Pacific tender steam locomotive that operated on New Zealand's national railway system for New Zealand Railways (NZR). Originally an improvement on the 1906 A class, 141 were built between 1915 and 1927 ...

a New Zealand steam locomotive * Antibonding (a.b.), used to describe the character of orbitals in atomic and molecular

electronic structure In quantum chemistry, electronic structure is the state of motion of electrons in an electrostatic field created by stationary nuclei. The term encompasses both the wave functions of the electrons and the energies associated with them. Electr ...

ApacheBench ApacheBench (ab is the real Computer program, program Filename, file name) is a Thread (computing), single-threaded command line computer program used for Web server benchmarking, benchmarking (measuring the performance of) HyperText Transfer Prot ...

, a command line tool for Apache HTTP Server *

Armed boarding steamer An armed boarding steamer (or "armed boarding ship", or "armed boarding vessel") was a merchantman that the British Royal Navy converted to a warship during the First World War. AB steamers or vessels had the role of enforcing wartime blockades b ...

, used by the United Kingdom during World War I, for boarding enemy vessels * A US Navy hull classification symbol: Crane ship (AB)

In religion

* Ab (Egyptian heart-soul concept), a concept of the heart-soul in ancient Egyptian religion * Ab., a Hebrew abbreviation related to

Pirkei Avot Pirkei Avot ( he, פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth''), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from ...

, a compilation of teachings and maxims from the Mishnaic period *

Aitareya Brahmana The Aitareya Brahmana ( sa, ऐतरेय ब्राह्मण) is the Brahmana of the Shakala Shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition, is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya. Aut ...

, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns

In sport

Association football

Akademisk Boldklub Akademisk Boldklub Gladsaxe (or AB) is a Danish professional football club from Gladsaxe north of Copenhagen, currently playing at the 3rd highest level of Danish domestic football in the Danish 2nd Division group 1. The club was established on ...

, a Danish professional football club *

Argja Bóltfelag Argja Bóltfelag is a Professional Faroese football club based in Argir. They were playing their 2020 third season in the Faroe Islands Premier League, after being promoted from 1. deild after playing there for 1 season in 2017. After the 2020 se ...

, a Faroese association football club

Rugby union

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

, New Zealand's national rugby union team *

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais ( eu, Baionako Arrauna), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'', in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which, for the 2016-17 season, competed in the top tier of the French league system, ...

, French rugby union club

Other

AB de Villiers Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a former South African international cricketer. AB de Villiers was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five W ...

, South African middle order batsman and wicket-keeper * Adrien Broner, American Boxer, nicknamed AB *

Allan Border Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test ma ...

, Australian cricketer, nicknamed A.B. *

Antonio Brown Antonio Tavaris Brown Sr. (born July 10, 1988), nicknamed "AB", is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent, and an American rapper. Raised in Liberty City, Miami, Brown attended Miami Norland High School. He played college ...

, American football player, nicknamed AB * At Bat, in baseball statistics

Other uses

* Ab (cuneiform), a written syllable * Ab (given name), a short form of Albert (or occasionally Abraham or Abbott) *

Ab (Semitic) Ab or Av (related to Akkadian ''abu''), sometimes Abba, means " father" in most Semitic languages. The original word of Aba or Ab is from Ge'ez language. Arabic ''Ab'' (), from a theoretical, abstract form ( ''ʼabawun'') (triliteral ʼ- b ...

, a Semitic word for "father" * ''ab'', a

Welsh patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, al ...

Ap (water) ''Ap'' (') is the Vedic Sanskrit term for "water", which in Classical Sanskrit only occurs in the plural ' (sometimes re-analysed as a thematic singular, '), whence Hindi '. The term is from PIE "water".The word has many cognates in archaic E ...

, Vedic Sanskti term for water, surviving as In Persian as Āb * AB, a South Australian dish made of hot potato chips, gyro meat and sauces, similar to a

Halal snack pack A halal snack pack (HSP) is a fast food dish, popular in Australia, which consists of halal-Halal certification in Australia, certified doner kebab meat (lamb, chicken, or beef) and French fries, chips. It also includes different kinds of sauces ...

Abkhaz language Abkhaz ( ; ), sometimes spelled Abxaz and also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 100, ...

(ISO 639-1 language code ab), a Northwest Caucasian language spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people * Adult baby, a person who practices paraphilic infantilism * ''Artium baccalaureus'', Latin for

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

* Assembly Bill, a type of legislation in the United States *

Absolute Beginner Beginner (formerly Absolute Beginner) is a German rap group from Hamburg, consisting of Jan Delay (aka Eizi Eiz/Eißfeldt), Denyo and DJ Mad. Their fourth album, ''Advanced Chemistry'', was released in August 2016. Band history The group ...

, a German rap group