af

Af (or af) is a two-letter combination with multiple, distinct uses across language, geography, and technology. It appears in ISO codes, domain names, and various abbreviations, so interpretation depends on context.

Afrikaans and language code: The ISO 639-1 code af designates Afrikaans, a West Germanic language descended from Dutch and spoken in South Africa and Namibia. Afrikaans uses the Latin alphabet and is one of South Africa’s 11 official languages. It developed from 17th-century Dutch communities and has standardised forms used in education, media, and public life.

Afghanistan and country code: The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code AF designates Afghanistan. This code is used in international data systems and, for web addressing, Afghanistan’s internet domain is .af. The code appears in various administrative and logistical contexts to identify the country.

Other common uses: In computing, AF stands for address family, a term used in socket programming (for example, AF_INET denotes IPv4). In aviation, AF is the IATA airline designator for Air France. In medicine, AF is a widely used abbreviation for atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder.

Context and variation: Because af covers language, geography, and technical shorthand, its meaning is determined by surrounding information such as the field, organization, or country involved. In formal writing, specifying the domain (language code, country code, technical term) helps avoid ambiguity.