ASA
American Sunbathing Association (Now called AANR)  

Bulletin, The
Monthly newspaper published by AANR.  

CO
Clothing-Optional  

Clothes-Free
Used to describe parks where nudity is required. This is in contrast to clothing-optional parks where nudity is accepted but not required. Note, most clothing-optional parks will however require nudity when in the pool or hot tub.  

Clothes-compulsive
Used to describe a very prudish view of social nudity.  

Clothing-Optional
Describes a location where any state of dress is permitted, from fully clothed to fully nude. The term is used to differentiate between locations where full nudity is required by everyone. (Note, undergarments and lingerie are generally frowned upon as a clothing option.)  

ESA
Eastern Sunbathing Association (region of AANR)  

FANR
Florida Association for Nude Recreation (region of AANR)  

Free Beach
A beach where nudity is acceptable. Free beaches generally have a tradition of nude use, although there may be no official acceptance of such.  

Gymno-
Greek word meaning "naked" or "bare". Used to form compound words. The classic example of such a use is the word "gymnasium", derived from the Greek words gymnázein and gymnós meaning "to train naked".  

Gymnosophy
Naked philosophy. See "Gymno-" above.  

INF
International Naturist Federation  

Landed vs. Non-Landed
A landed club is one that owns land and provides various facilities to their visitors and/or members. A non-landed club, also called a travel club, is a group that either travels to landed clubs, holds private home events, and/or rents facilities such as health clubs.  

MSA
Midwest Sunbathing Association (region of AANR)  

NAC
Naturist Action Committee - A non-profit organization dedicated to preserving naturist rights. Publishers of The Newsletter.  

NEF
Naturist Education Foundation - A non-profit organization dedicated to education and increasing naturist awareness.  

NIFOC
"Naked (Nude) In Front Of Computer." Term popularized in campus computer labs.  

NLI
Naturist LIFE International - Organization that publishes a quarterly journal under the same name. Based in Troy, Vermont.  

NWNA
Northwest Nudist Association (region of AANR)  

Naturalist
A naturalist is somebody who studies zoology or botany. Naturalism is often incorrectly confused with Naturism.  

Naturally Magazine
Quarterly naturist publication from Events Unlimited.  

Naturist
One who practices Naturism. See also nudist vs. naturist.  

Naturist Society
Publishers of Nude & Natural magazine and The World Guide to Nude Beaches & Resorts. Based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, they are the second largest naturist organization in the U.S.

Newsletter, The
Published monthly by NAC. The Newsletter is a valuable resource for staying informed of the legal aspects surrounding the protection of naturist rights.  

Nude & Natural
Quarterly magazine published by TNS. Commonly referred to as N Magazine.  

Nude vs. Naked
Althougth similar, the two terms do not imply the same meaning. A nudist would rather be nude than naked. Naked implies being stripped, incomplete, missing something (clothing). Nudists` believe the nude human is in itself complete and that clothing can be added on optionally.  

Nudestock
A name used by several nudist parks to describe their annual music event.  

Nudism
The practice of being nude for the benefit of comfort and health. See also nudist vs. naturist.  

Nudist
One who practices nudism. See also nudist vs. naturist.  

Nudist Colony
An outdated term once used to describe nudist parks and resorts. Use of the term is discouraged due to negative connotations. Ants live in colonies, not nudists.  

Nudist vs. Naturist
Essentially synonomous, the terms Naturist/Naturism were originally created as an alternative to Nudist/Nudism in the attempt to dispell negative connotations associated with Nudism. Naturism tends to imply more environmental awareness, free beach values, and recreational nudity, while Nudism tends to be focused more around resorts and living nude full time.  

Nudity
The state or fact of being nude. (Webster)  

SIG
Special Interest Group  

SWSA
Southwest Sunbathing Association  

Social Nudity/Nudism
The practice of nudism as a family, group, and/or a setting such as a free beach or nudist park/resort.  

TNS
The Naturist Society  

Textile
Non-nudist or clothing-required, as in "nude-beaches are better than textile-beaches."  

Travel Club
A club that does not own any land and therefore travels to nearby landed parks and resorts as a group. See also Landed vs. Non-Landed.  

WANR
Western Association for Nude Recreation - The WANR is NOT to be confused with the WSA of AANR. The WANR publishes the SKINNY-DIPPERS Newsletter for its members. Through networking, members of the association share naturist news information about nude beaches, mountain hiking, `canuding`, visits to hot springs, social gatherings, and many other nude activities.

WCANR
Western Canadian Association for Nude Recreation (region of AANR)  

WSA
Western Sunbathing Association (region of AANR)  

World Guide to Nude Beaches and Resorts
Travel guide published by TNS. Contains hundreds of listings, with directions and color photos.  

rec.nude
The first Internet USENET newsgroup devoted to the nudist/naturist lifestyle. Once an excellent resource prior to the explosion of the Internet. It is now considered by many to be a wasteland due to misuse.