Business Symbols & Abbreviations

Common Business, Economics, and Finance

Symbol & Abbreviation	Meaning
Δ	Change or Difference (ΔQ means the change in Quantity Demanded from time 1 to time 2
+	Plus, Rise, Goes Up, Increases, Add
–	Minus, Fall, Goes Down, Decreases, Subtract
Q_D	Quantity Demanded (The number of products the consumers want and can purchase)
Q_S	Quantity Supplied (The number of products the suppliers have available on the market)
P	Profit
p	price
±	Plus or Minus. (Q_S = ±3 means that Q_S can either go up or down 3 depending on what you changed).
X < Y	X is less than Y
X > Y	X is more than Y \| X is greater than Y
X	the Vertical line on a graph
Y	the Horizontal line on a graph