aei

Aei, or AEI when capitalized, is a three-letter sequence that can refer to different things depending on the context. The most widely recognized usage in English-language discourse is as the abbreviation AEI for the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that conducts research and commentary on public policy, economics, and international affairs.

In linguistics and typography, ae i is simply a sequence of vowels. The digraph ae, historically written as the ligature æ in Latin and in some older texts, represents a vowel sound that varies across languages and traditions. The three-letter sequence “aei” can occur in words across various languages and may be analyzed in studies of phonology, orthography, and historical linguistics.

Other uses of AEI exist as organizational acronyms in different countries and fields, including institutes related to education, engineering, economics, and industry. Because AEI is a widely used acronym, its specific meaning is highly context-dependent and can refer to distinct institutions, programs, or concepts beyond the American Enterprise Institute.

Disambiguation is typically required to determine which entity or idea a particular instance of AEI refers to, and readers are encouraged to rely on surrounding information to identify the intended meaning. As a form of a common acronym and a simple vowel sequence, AEI has no single universal definition.