Thesis & Long Documents
How to Add a List of Acronyms, Nomenclature, and Abbreviations in LaTeX
Most theses and long documents need a list of acronyms or nomenclature. LaTeX can manage these automatically — define each term once, use it in your text, and LaTeX generates the list for you.
Using the glossaries Package (Recommended)
The glossaries package is the most flexible option for acronyms, glossary terms, and nomenclature:
\usepackage[acronym,toc]{glossaries}
\makeglossaries
% Define acronyms:
\newacronym{cnn}{CNN}{Convolutional Neural Network}
\newacronym{rnn}{RNN}{Recurrent Neural Network}
\newacronym{nlp}{NLP}{Natural Language Processing}
\begin{document}
% First use expands: "Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)"
We use a \gls{cnn} for image classification.
% Second use abbreviates: "CNN"
The \gls{cnn} achieved 95\% accuracy.
% Print the list:
\printglossary[type=\acronymtype,title=List of Acronyms]
\end{document}Using the nomencl Package for Nomenclature
If you need a mathematical nomenclature list (symbols and their meanings):
\usepackage{nomencl}
\makenomenclature
% Define symbols:
\nomenclature{$\alpha$}{Learning rate}
\nomenclature{$\mathbf{W}$}{Weight matrix}
\nomenclature{$\mathcal{L}$}{Loss function}
\nomenclature{$N$}{Number of training samples}
\begin{document}
% Print nomenclature:
\printnomenclature
% Compile with:
% pdflatex main.tex
% makeindex main.nlo -s nomencl.ist -o main.nls
% pdflatex main.tex
\end{document}💡 Tips
- •Use \gls{} for automatic first-use expansion; \acrshort{} to always use the abbreviation
- •Run 'makeglossaries main' between pdflatex runs for the glossaries package
- •The acro package is a lighter alternative if you only need acronyms
- •Sort your acronym definitions alphabetically for easier maintenance
Try This in Bibby AI
Write LaTeX faster with AI auto-complete and instant compilation.
Start Writing Free