Full stop
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Full stop | |
| Other names | Period |
| U+002E . FULL STOP HTML . | |
The full stop (Commonwealth English), period (North American English), or full point . is a punctuation mark used for several purposes, most often to mark the end of a declarative sentence (as distinguished from a question or exclamation).[a]
A full stop is frequently used at the end of word abbreviations—in British usage, primarily truncations such as Rev., but not after contractions which retain the final letter such as Revd;[b] in American English, it is used in both cases. It may be placed after an initial letter used to abbreviate a word. It is often placed after each individual letter in initialisms, (e.g., "U.S."), but not usually in those that are acronyms ("NATO)".[3] However, the use of full stops after letters in initialisms is declining, and many of these without punctuation have become accepted norms (e.g., "UK" and "NATO").[c] When used in a series (typically of three, an ellipsis) the mark is also used to indicate omitted words.
In the English-speaking world, a punctuation mark identical to the full stop is used as the decimal separator and for other purposes, and may be called a point. In computing, it is called a dot.[4] It is sometimes called a baseline dot to distinguish it from the interpunct (or middle dot).[4][5]
- ^ "The Punctuation Points". American Printer and Lithographer. 24 (6): 278. August 1897. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
- ^ H. W. Fowler (1970). Modern English Usage. p. 444.
- ^ "Editorial style guide". University of Edinburgh. 2025-04-11.
Acronyms - Don't put full stops between letters.
- ^ a b Williamson, Amelia A. "Period or Comma? Decimal Styles over Time and Place" (PDF). Science Editor. 31 (2): 42–43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
- ^ Truss, Lynn (2004). Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. New York: Gotham Books. p. 25. ISBN 1-59240-087-6.
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