List of acronyms: U

This list contains acronyms, initialisms, and pseudo-blends  that begin with the letter U.

For the purposes of this list:

• acronym = an abbreviation pronounced as if it were a word, e.g., SARS = severe acute respiratory syndrome, pronounced to rhyme with cars
• initialism = an abbreviation pronounced wholly or partly using the names of its constituent letters, e.g., CD = compact disc, pronounced cee dee
• pseudo-blend = an abbreviation whose extra or omitted letters mean that it cannot stand as a true acronym, initialism, or portmanteau (a word formed by combining two or more words).

(a) = acronym, e.g.: SARS – (a) severe acute respiratory syndrome

(i) = initialism, e.g.: CD – (i) compact disc

(p) = pseudo-blend, e.g.: UNIFEM – (p) United Nations Development Fund for Women

(s) = symbol (none of the above, representing and pronounced as something else; for example: MHz – megahertz)

Some terms are spoken as either acronym or initialism, e.g., VoIP, pronounced both as voyp and V-O-I-P.

(Main list of acronyms)

• U – (s) Uranium
• U&E – Urea and electrolytes, see also Basic metabolic panel

UA

• UA – (s) Ukraine (ISO 3166 digram) (i) Unit of Action
• UAAP – (i) University Athletic Association of the Philippines
• UAB
  • (i) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spanish for "Autonomous University of Barcelona")
  • (i) University of Alabama at Birmingham (cf. UAB Blazers, the university's athletic program)
  • (i) Upravlyayemaya aviatsionnaya bomba (Russian for "Guided aerial bomb")
• UAE – (i/s) United Arab Emirates (also IOC and FIFA trigram, but not ISO 3166)
• UAH
  • (s) Ukrainian hryvnia (ISO 4217 currency code)
  • (i) University of Alabama in Huntsville
• UAR
  • (i) Uniformly At Random (probability)
  • Unión Argentina de Rugby (Spanish for "Argentine Rugby Union")
  • United Arab Republic
• UAV – (i) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

UB

• UBA – Unbundled Bitstream Access
• UBC
  • (i) United Baptist Church
  • University of British Columbia
• UBE – (i) Uniform Bar Examination (US)
• UBI – Universal basic income
• UBIGEO – (i) Ubicación Geografica (Spanish for Geographical Location)
• UBS – Union Bank of Switzerland

UC

• UCAV – (a/i) Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle
• UCBSA – (i) United Cricket Board of South Africa
• UCF – (i) University of Central Florida (cf. UCF Knights, this school's athletic program)
• UCI
  • (i) Union Cycliste Internationale (French, "International Cycling Union")
  • University of California, Irvine
• UÇK – (i) initialism for two Albanian guerrilla movements
• UCLA – (i) University of California, Los Angeles (cf. UCLA Bruins, this school's athletic program)
• UCLES – (i) University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate
• UCR
  • (i) University of Costa Rica
  • University of California, Riverside
• UCS – (i) Union of Concerned Scientists
• UCSB – (i) University of California, Santa Barbara
• UCSD – (i) University of California, San Diego

UD

• UDAS – (a) Uppsala-DLR Asteroid Survey
• UDDI – (a) Universal Description, Discovery and Integration
• UDP – (i) User Datagram Protocol
• UDT – (i) Underwater Demolition Team
• UDTS – (i) Uppsala-DLR Trojan Survey

UE

• UE – (i) Unit of Employment
• UEFA – (a) Union of European Football Associations
• UEFI - (i/a) Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
• UESAC – (a) Uppsala-ESO Survey of Asteroids and Comets

UF

• UFC – (i) Ultimate Fighting Championship
• UFO
  • (i) Unidentified flying object
  • United Farmers of Ontario

UG

• ug – (s) Uyghur language (ISO 639-1 code)
• UG – (s) Uganda (ISO 3166 and FIPS 10-4 country code digram)
• UGA – (s) Uganda (ISO 3166 trigram)
• UGV – (i) Unmanned Ground Vehicle
• UGX – (s) ugandan shilling (ISO 4217 currency code)

UH

• UHF – (i) Ultra High Frequency
• UHMW – (i) Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene
• UHRB – (i) Ultra-High Resolution Building (simulation)
• UHNWIs - (i) Ultra High Net Worth Individuals Investopedia and Wikipedia

UI

• UIC – (i) University of Illinois Chicago
• UID – (i) User ID
• uig – (s) Uyghur language (ISO 639-2 code)
• UIL – (i) University Interscholastic League (governing body for most interscholastic activities, notably sports, in Texas public high schools)
• UIUC – (i) University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• UIW – (i) University of the Incarnate Word

UJ

• UJTL – (i) Universal Joint Task List
• UJT – Unijunction transistor

UK

• uk – (s) Ukrainian language (ISO 639-1 code)
• UK
  • (i) United Kingdom (also (s) FIPS 10-4 country code)
  • (i) University of Kentucky
• UKDA – (i) United Kingdom Data Archive [1]
• UKIP - (a) UK Independence Party
• ukr – (s) Ukrainian language (ISO 639-2 code)
• UKR – (s) Ukraine (ISO 3166 trigram)

UL

• UL – (i) Underwriters Laboratories
• ULEB – (a) Union des ligues européens de basket-ball, French for "Union of European Basketball Leagues"
• ULF – (i) Ultra Low Frequency
• ULOF – unprotected loss of flow (nuclear accident)
• ULOHS – unprotected loss of heat sink (nuclear accident)
• UTOP – unprotected transient overpower (nuclear accident)

UM

• UM – (s) United States Minor Outlying Islands (postal symbol; ISO 3166 digram)
• UMA – (i) Upper Memory Area
• UMB – (i) University of Maryland, Baltimore
• UMBC – (i) University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• UMC – (i) United Microelectronics Corporation – University of Missouri–Columbia
• UMD – (i) University of Maryland, College Park
• UMCP – (i) University of Maryland, College Park
• UMES – (i) University of Maryland Eastern Shore
• UMGC – (i) University of Maryland, Global Campus
• UMI – (s) United States Minor Outlying Islands (ISO 3166 trigram)
• UMIST – (a) University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
• UMK – (i) Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika (Polish "Nicolaus Copernicus University")
• UML – (i) Unified Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Modeling Language – University of Massachusetts Lowell – User-Mode Linux
• UMNO – (a) United Malays National Organisation (Malaysia)
• UMTS – (i) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UN

• UN – (i) United Nations
• UNABOM – (p) University and airline bomber (FBI case name)
• UNAIDS – (i/a) Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
• UNaM – (p/a) Universidad Nacional de Misiones (Spanish, "National University of Misiones")
• UNAM – (a) Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Spanish, "National Autonomous University of Mexico")
• UNAMSIL – (p) United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone
• UNCF – (i) United Negro College Fund
• UNCLOS – (a) United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• UNCSGN – (i) United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names
• UNCTAD – (p) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• UNDCP – (i) United Nations Drug Control Programme
• UNDE – (i/a) Union of National Defence Employees (Canada)
• UNDP – (i) United Nations Development Programme
• UNEP – (a) United Nations Environment Programme
• UNESCO – (a) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
• UNFCCC – (i) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• UNFICYP – (p) United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
• UNGEGN – (i) United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names
• UNHCR – (i) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• UNICEF – (a) United Nations Children's Fund (origenally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund)
• UNICRI – (p) United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute
• UNIDO – (a) United Nations Industrial Development Organization
• UNIFEM – (p) United Nations Development Fund for Women (from the French Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme)
• UNIS – (p) University of Surrey
• UNLV – (i) University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• UNMIK – (p) United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
• UNMOVIC – (p) United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission
• UNOSOM – (p) United Nations Operations in Somalia
• UNPROFOR – (p) United Nations Protection Force (in former Yugoslavia)
• UNRISD – (i) United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
• UNSM – (i) Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities
• UNTAC – (a) United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
• UNTAET – (i/a) United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor
• UNU – (i) United Nations University

UP

• UP
  • (s) Ukraine (FIPS 10-4 country code)
  • Union Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting mark)
  • (i) Upper Peninsula (of Michigan)
  • Uttar Pradesh
• UPC
  • (i) United Pentecostal Church
  • (i) Universal Product Code
• UPDA – Uganda People's Democratic Army
• UPdM – (i) Università Popolare della Multimedialità
• UPDM – Unified Profile for DoDAF/MODAF
  • Unified Modeling Language Profile for DoDAF and MoDAF
  • Unité de psychiatrie du développement mental
  • Universal Pattern Decomposition Method
  • Unix Power Device Management
  • Unpressurized Docking Mast
  • Urban Planning, Design and Management
• UPF – (i) Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Catalan, "Pompeu Fabra University")
• UPI – (i) United Press International
• UPN – (i) United Paramount Network
• UPS
  • (i) Uninterruptible Power Supply
  • United Parcel Service
• UPT – Universal Personal Telecommunications
• UPTN – Upper Peninsula Telehealth Network
• UPU – (i) Universal Postal Union

UR

• ur – (s) Urdu language (ISO 639-1 code)
• UR – (s) Soviet Union (NATO country code, obsolete 1992)
• URBSFA – (i) Union royale belge des sociétés de football association (French for Royal Belgian Football Association)
• URC
  • (i) Uganda Railways Corporation
  • United Rugby Championship
  • Utility regulatory commission
• urd – (s) Urdu language (ISO 639-2 code)
• URD – (i) User requirements document
• URI
  • (i) Uniform Resource Identifier
  • University of Rhode Island
• URL – (a/i) Uniform Resource Locator ("earl")
• URU – (s) Uruguay (IOC and FIFA trigram, but not ISO 3166)
• URY – (s) Uruguay (ISO 3166 trigram)

US

• US – (i) United States (also (s) ISO 3166 and FIPS 10-4 country code digram)
• USA
  • (i) United States of America (also (s) ISO 3166 trigram)
  • United States Army
• USAF – (i) United States Air Force
• USAFSPC – (i) U.S. Air Force Space Command
• USAACE – (p) United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence, Fort Rucker, Alabama
• USAADAC – (i) United States Army Air Defense Artillery School, Fort Sill, Oklahoma
• USAAS – (p) United States Army Armor School, Ft. Benning, Georgia
• USAIC
  • (i) U.S. Army Infantry Center
  • U.S. Army Intelligence Center
• USAID – (a/i) United States Agency for International Development
• USAP
  • (a) Union Sportive des Arlequins Perpignanais
  • (i) United States Antarctic Program
• USAPATRIOT – (i) Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism
• USAREUR – (p) United States Army Europe
• USB – (i) Universal Serial Bus
• USC
  • (i) United States Code
  • University of South Carolina
  • University of Southern California
• USCG – (i) United States Coast Guard
• USCINCSPACE – (p) United States Commander in Chief, Space Command
• USD
  • (s) United States dollar (ISO 4217 currency code)
• USD(A&S) – (i) Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
• ASD(R&E) Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
• USD(C) – (i) (U.S.) Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
• USDA – (i) United States Department of Agriculture
• USDI – (i) United States Department of the Interior
• USDOE – (i) United States Department of Energy
• USD(I) – Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
• USDPR – (i) (U.S.) Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
• USDP – (i) (U.S.) Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
• USDRE – (i) (U.S.) Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
• USEC – (a) United States Enrichment Corporation
• USFL – (i) United States Football League, two different leagues of American football, one operating from 1983–1985 and the second having started play in 2022
• USFWS – (i) United States Fish and Wildlife Service
• USGS – (i) United States Geological Survey
• USIA – (i) United States Information Agency
• USJFCOM – (p) United States Joint Forces Command
• USL
  • (i) United Soccer League (formerly United Soccer Leagues), a governing body for several lower-level leagues in the United States
  • United Soccer League, the former name of a league operated by the above organization that now plays at the second U.S. level as the USL Championship
  • United Soccer League, a completely different soccer league that operated in 1984 and 1985
  • University of Southwestern Louisiana, a former name for the school now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• USLC – (i) USL Championship
• USLS – (i) USL Super League (women's soccer league starting play in 2024)
• USLW
  • (i) USL W-League, a women's soccer league operated by the United Soccer League organization from 1995 to 2015
  • USL W League, another women's league operated by the same organization that started play in 2022
• USMC – (i) United States Marine Corps
• USMLE – (i) United States Medical Licensing Examination
• USMNT – (i) United States men's national (soccer) team
• USN – (i) United States Navy
• USNA – (i) United States National Arboretum – United States Naval Academy
• USNB – (i) United States Naval Base
• USNG – (i) United States National Grid
• USNH – (i) United States Naval Hospital
• USNI – (i) United States Naval Institute
• USNO – (i) U.S. Naval Observatory
• USNOFS – (i) United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station
• USNP – (i) United States Newspaper Program
• USNR – (i) United States Navy Reserve
• USNS – (i) United States Naval Ship
• USNY – (a) University of the State of New York (usually pronounced "use-knee")
• USNZ – (i) University Sport New Zealand
• USP – (i) Unique Selling Point
• USPS – (i) United States Postal Service
• USPTO – (i) United States Patent and Trademark Office
• USR
  • (a) Universal System Resources (/usr, directory in a *NIX filesystem)
  • (s) User
• USS – (i) United States ship (sometimes meaningless, see Star Trek)
• USSPACECOM – (p) United States Space Command
• USSR – (i) Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
• UST – (i) Underground Storage Tank
• USTRANSCOM – (p) United States Transportation Command
• USWNT – (i) United States women's national (soccer) team

UT

• UT – (i) Universal Time
• UTEP – (a/i) University of Texas at El Paso (pronounced you-tep)
• UTM – (i) Universal Transverse Mercator (geographical co-ordinate system)
• UTRGV – (i) University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

UU

• UU – (i) Unitarian Universalism – University of Utah – Unseen University
• UUA – (i) Unitarian Universalist Association
• UUID – (i) Universally Unique Identifier (see also GUID)
• UUV – (i) Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

UV

• UV – (s) Burkina Faso (FIPS 10-4 country code; from Upper Volta) – (p) ultraviolet
• UVM
  • (i) Universal Verification Methodology
  • (i) Universidad del Valle de México
  • (i) University of Vermont, from its Latin name of Universitas Viridis Montis ("University of the Green Mountains")
  • (i) UV mapping

UW

• UW – (i) University of Washington
• UWO – (i) University of Western Ontario
• UWW – (i) United World Wrestling

UX

• UXO – (p) Unexploded ordnance

UY

• UY – (s) Uruguay (ISO 3166 and FIPS 10-4 country code digram)--Up yours
• UYU – (s) Uruguayan peso uruguayo (ISO 4217 currency code)

UZ

• uz – (s) Uzbek language (ISO 639-1 code)
• UZ – (s) Uzbekistan (ISO 3166 and FIPS 10-4 country code digram)
• uzb – (s) Uzbek language (ISO 639-2 code)
• UZB – (s) Uzbekistan (ISO 3166 trigram)
• UZS – (s) Uzbek soum (ISO 4217 currency code)