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.

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.

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`q`	string	Search across code, name, and slug. Max 100 characters.
`offset`	string	Filter by the standard's UTC offset. Accepts `+01:00` or bare minutes like `60`.
`observes_dst`	boolean	`true`/`false` (also `1`/`0`). Keep only standards that do or don't take part in DST.
`continent`	string	Keep standards used in a given ISO region (`Europe`, `Americas`, `Asia`, `Africa`, `Oceania`). Case-insensitive.
`sort`	string	`code`, `name`, or `offset`. Prefix with `-` for descending. Default `name`.
`detail`	string	`concise` (default) or `full`. `full` returns the detail shape per row.
`per_page`	integer	Results per page, 1–100. Default 25.
`page`	integer	Page number, 1 or greater. Default 1.

Example

curl "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations?continent=Americas&sort=code" \
  -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,
      "links": { "self": "https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations/eastern-standard-time" }
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "current_page": 1,
    "per_page": 25,
    "total": 1,
    "tzdb_version": "2026a",
    "generated_at": "2026-05-31T12:00:00+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=1",
    "prev": null,
    "next": null
  }
}

Retrieve an abbreviation

GET /v1/abbreviations/{code|slug}

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

Many abbreviations share a code — AST alone covers Atlantic, Arabia, and more. When a code is ambiguous the API responds 300 Multiple Choices with a candidates list; re-request by slug, or narrow with ?offset= or ?continent=. A slug is always unambiguous.

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`include`	string	Comma-separated related data to embed: `timezones`, `countries`.
`offset`	string	Disambiguate a shared code by offset (`+03:00` or `180`).
`continent`	string	Disambiguate a shared code by ISO region.

Response

Field	Description
`current`	The standard's defining offset and whether it is the daylight variant.
`observes_dst`	Whether this standard takes part in DST.
`continent`	Dominant ISO region across the member zones.
`counts`	Number of member `timezones` and `countries`.
`counterpart`	The DST sibling (EST ↔ EDT), or `null` for a permanent standard.
`links`	Related API URLs plus `web`, the human-readable page on timezone.io.

curl https://api.timezone.io/v1/abbreviations/eastern-standard-time \
  -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": 30, "countries": 5 },
    "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": "2026a",
    "generated_at": "2026-05-31T12:00:00+00:00"
  }
}

An unknown code or slug returns 404; a shared code returns 300. See Errors for the full list of responses.