8. Abbreviations.—Such words as article, chapitre, scène, titre, figure, are abbreviated only when in parentheses, as references; in the text they are put in full. If, in works divided into articles, the first article is put in full (thus: Article premier), those that follow may be in figures and abbreviated (as Art. 2).
Saint, sainte, when they occur very often, as in religious works, may be abbreviated, taking a capital letter: S. Louis, Ste Marie. But not when they form part of the name of a place, e.g. Saint-Germain-des-Prés; in which case Saint- and Sainte- take a capital and are followed by a hyphen.[83] (See also [p. 75].)
The words monsieur, madame, monseigneur, messeigneurs, messieurs, mesdames, mademoiselle, mesdemoiselles, are written in full and all in lower-case when addressing a person: Oui, madame; Non, monsieur le duc. Also in the following instances: J’espère que monseigneur viendra; j’ai vu monsieur votre père. In most other cases M. (for monsieur), Mme (for madame), Mgr. or Mgr (for monseigneur), and so on, are used. The words Sa Majesté, Son Éminence, Leurs Altesses, when followed by another title, are put as initials, thus S. M. l’Empereur; but not otherwise.
The name Jésus-Christ is abbreviated only when in parentheses after a date, thus: (337 avant J.-C.). This is more frequently printed 337 A.J.C.
Other examples of abbreviations:
| liv. | (livre) | etc. | (et cætera) |
| ch. | (chapitre) | c.-à-d. | (c’est-à-dire) |
| t. | (tome) | Cie | (compagnie) |
| do | (ditto) | Dr | (docteur) |
| fo | (folio) | Me | (maître) |
| in-fo | (in-folio) | Mlle | (mademoiselle) |
| in-8o | (in-octavo) | N.-S. J.-C. | (Notre-Seigneur |
| in-4o | (in-quarto) | Jésus-Christ) | |
| ms. | (manuscrit) | Cte | (comte) |
| mss. | (manuscrits) | Mis | (marquis) |
| no | (numéro) | Vve | (veuve) |
| P.-S. | (post-scriptum) | S.A. | (Son Altesse) |
| Ier } | (premier) | LL. AA. II. | (Leurs Altesses |
| 1er } | Impériales) | ||
| II, 2e | (deuxième) | ||
| Abbreviations of metric signs: | |||
| [84]Mm. | (myriamètre) | t. | (tonne) |
| [{84}]Km. | (kilomètre) | q. | (quintal métrique) |
| [{84}]Hm. | (hectomètre) | kg. | (kilogramme) |
| dam. | (décamètre) | hg. | (hectogramme) |
| m. | (mètre) | dag. | (décagramme) |
| dm. | (décimètre) | g. | (gramme) |
| cm. | (centimètre) | dg. | (décigramme) |
| mq. | (mètre carré) | cg. | (centigramme) |
| mm. | (millimètre) | mg. | (milligramme) |
| mmq. | (millimètre carré) | kl. | (kilolitre) |
| mmc. | (millimètre cube) | hl. | (hectolitre) |
| ha. | (hectare) | dal. | (décalitre) |
| a. | (are) | l. | (litre) |
| ca. or m2. | (centiare) | dl. | (décilitre) |
| das. | (décastère) | cl. | (centilitre) |
| s. or m3. | (stère) | ml. | (millilitre) |
| ds. | (décistère) | ||
Put: 20 francs, 20 mètres, 20 litres, 20 milligrammes. If, however, followed by fractions, then put—20 fr. 50, or 20fr,50; 20 m. 50, or 20m,50; 20 l. 50, or 20l,50; 20 kilog. 5, or 20kilo,5.
In works crowded with figures, one can even put—0m,5 for 5 décimètres; 0m,15 for 15 centimètres; 0m,008 for 8 millimètres.
The cubic metre followed by a fraction is given thus: 4mc,005 or 4m3,005 (= 4 mètres cubes 5 millimètres cubes); the square metre thus: 4mq,05 or 4m2,05 (= 4 mètres carrés 5 décimètres carrés).
The French use a decimal comma instead of a decimal point—2,3 = 2·3.