Abbreviations

Abbreviations are the friendly, named layer over IANA time zones — "Eastern Standard Time" (EST), "Central European Time" (CET), and so on. Each entry represents one specific time standard; the standard and daylight variants (EST / EDT) are separate, linked entries.

Unlike a time zone, an abbreviation's offset is fixed by definition — EST is always -05:00, EDT always -04:00 — so these endpoints take no at parameter.

At a glance#

List abbreviations#

GET /v1/abbreviations

Returns a paginated list. Each row is lean: code, name, slug, the defining offset, and whether the standard takes part in DST.

Example — build an abbreviation glossary#

A documentation site wants a cheat sheet of every named standard used in the Americas, A → Z:

curl "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations?continent=Americas&sort=code" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

{
    "data": [
        {
            "code": "ADT",
            "name": "Atlantic Daylight Time",
            "slug": "atlantic-daylight-time",
            "current": { "utc_offset": "-03:00", "is_dst": true },
            "observes_dst": true,
            "links": {
                "self": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations/atlantic-daylight-time"
            }
        },
        {
            "code": "AKDT",
            "name": "Alaska Daylight Time",
            "slug": "alaska-daylight-time",
            "current": { "utc_offset": "-08:00", "is_dst": true },
            "observes_dst": true,
            "links": {
                "self": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations/alaska-daylight-time"
            }
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "current_page": 1,
        "per_page": 25,
        "total": 52,
        "tzdb_version": "2025.2",
        "generated_at": "2026-06-12T09:00:00+00:00"
    },
    "links": {
        "first": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations?continent=Americas&sort=code&page=1",
        "last": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations?continent=Americas&sort=code&page=3",
        "prev": null,
        "next": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations?continent=Americas&sort=code&page=2"
    }
}

(Remaining rows trimmed.)

Query parameters#

Going deeper#

• Searching for a positive offset? Percent-encode the + in the query string — ?offset=%2B01:00 — or pass bare minutes (?offset=60), which needs no encoding.
• current.is_dst here means "this entry is the daylight variant" (ADT, CEST), not "DST is active right now" — an abbreviation is a fixed standard, not a place.

Retrieve an abbreviation#

GET /v1/abbreviations/{code|slug}

Fetch a single standard by its unique slug (eastern-standard-time) or its code (EST, case-insensitive).

Example — decode "the call is at 15:00 EST"#

A calendar invite names an abbreviation instead of a place. Resolve it to an offset you can compute with:

curl https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations/EST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

{
    "data": {
        "code": "EST",
        "name": "Eastern Standard Time",
        "slug": "eastern-standard-time",
        "current": { "utc_offset": "-05:00", "is_dst": false },
        "observes_dst": true,
        "continent": "Americas",
        "counts": { "timezones": 20, "countries": 9 },
        "counterpart": {
            "code": "EDT",
            "name": "Eastern Daylight Time",
            "utc_offset": "-04:00"
        },
        "links": {
            "self": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations/eastern-standard-time",
            "timezones": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/timezones?abbreviation=EST",
            "web": "https://timezone.io/zones/eastern-standard-time"
        }
    },
    "meta": {
        "tzdb_version": "2025.2",
        "generated_at": "2026-06-12T09:00:00+00:00"
    }
}

So 15:00 EST is 20:00 UTC. One caveat worth showing your users: observes_dst: true plus the counterpart block tells you the region behind this name switches to EDT (-04:00) in summer — people writing "EST" in July usually mean that. If the sender meant a place rather than a standard, /convert with a city or zone token is the safer translation.

Query parameters#

Response fields#

Shared codes return 300#

Many abbreviations share a code — AST alone covers Atlantic Standard Time, Arabian Standard Time, Argentina Standard Time, and more. When a code is ambiguous the API responds 300 Multiple Choices with a candidates list. Narrow with ?offset= or ?continent= if that pins it down to one:

curl "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations/AST?offset=%2B03:00" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

…but qualifiers don't always suffice — two American AST standards share -04:00. The slug from the candidates list is always unambiguous, so re-requesting by slug (/abbreviations/atlantic-standard-time) is the reliable second step. An unknown code or slug returns 404. See Errors for the 300 body shape and the full list of responses.