The Inner Circle Traders
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ICT Abbreviations: The Complete A-Z List

ICT tutorials are full of shorthand — FVG, OB, BOS, CHoCH, OTE, PO3, SMT, IPDA — and most of them never stop to spell it out. This is the complete A-Z reference for every abbreviation in the ICT and Smart Money Concepts framework, each with its full form, a plain-English definition, and a link to the full guide. Bookmark it and keep it open while you study anything else on the site.
The Inner Circle Traders
Updated August 2026
8 min read
Cluster: Foundations
This is the complete A-Z reference for every abbreviation and short-form term used across the ICT and Smart Money Concepts framework. Each entry gives the full form, a one-line definition, and a link to the full step-by-step guide where one exists. Keep this page open in a second tab while you study any other ICT tutorial — most of them assume you already know these abbreviations.
Prefer to search instead of scroll? Use our interactive ICT glossary tool for instant filtering by letter and keyword.

A

A Accumulation

The first phase of the Power of 3 daily cycle, where price consolidates in a range while institutions build positions. Full guide →

AMD Accumulation, Manipulation, Distribution

The three-phase daily delivery template — also called Power of 3. Range builds, one side is swept, then the real move delivers. Full guide →

AR Asian Range

The consolidation that forms during the Asian session, often the accumulation phase that later gets swept by London. Full guide →

B

BB Breaker Block

An order block that failed and flipped — support becomes resistance, or the reverse — marking a shift in control. Full guide →

BE Breakeven

Moving the stop loss to the entry price once a trade is in profit, so the worst case becomes no loss.

BISI Buy-Side Imbalance, Sell-Side Inefficiency

A bullish fair value gap — a three-candle imbalance to the upside that price often returns to rebalance. Full guide →

BOS Break of Structure

A clean break of the prior swing in the trend direction, confirming the trend is continuing. Full guide →

BPR Balanced Price Range

Two opposing, overlapping fair value gaps that create a strong reaction zone when revisited. Full guide →

BSL Buy-Side Liquidity

Resting orders above old highs — the stops of sellers and the orders of breakout buyers — that price reaches for. Full guide →

C

CHoCH Change of Character

The first structural sign of a reversal — a break of the most recent counter-trend swing point. Full guide →

CISD Change in State of Delivery

The moment price shifts from delivering one direction to the other, often the earliest reversal signal. Full guide →

CRT Candle Range Theory

A framework that reads a single higher-timeframe candle as a range to be swept and reversed on lower timeframes. Full guide →

D

D Distribution

The final Power of 3 phase, where the true directional move delivers after the manipulation. Full guide →

DOL Draw on Liquidity

The liquidity target price is most likely gravitating toward — the magnet that defines directional bias. Full guide →

DR Dealing Range

The defined high-to-low range price is currently working within, bounded by external liquidity. Full guide →

E

EQ Equilibrium (50%)

The midpoint of a range that separates premium from discount; price above is expensive, below is cheap. Full guide →

EQH / EQL Equal Highs / Equal Lows

Relative equal levels where liquidity pools, making them prime targets for a sweep. Full guide →

ERL External Range Liquidity

The liquidity resting at the swing highs and lows that bound a range. Full guide →

F

FVG Fair Value Gap

A three-candle imbalance left by a fast move; price often returns to rebalance it. One of the most-used ICT entries. Full guide →

I

IDM Inducement

A trap level that lures retail traders in early, whose stops then fuel the real move. Full guide →

IFVG Inversion Fair Value Gap

A fair value gap that has been traded through and now acts in the opposite role — support becomes resistance. Full guide →

IPDA Interbank Price Delivery Algorithm

The algorithmic engine ICT teaches as delivering price, operating on repeatable time and liquidity logic. Full guide →

IRL Internal Range Liquidity

The liquidity inside a dealing range — the fair value gaps and order blocks — as opposed to the swing extremes. Full guide →

J

JS Judas Swing

The false move at a session open that fakes traders the wrong way before the real move — the manipulation leg. Full guide →

K

KZ Kill Zone

A high-probability time window (Asian, London, NY AM, NY PM) where institutional volume concentrates. Full guide →

L

LP Liquidity Pool

A cluster of resting orders at an obvious level, which smart money targets to fill large positions. Full guide →

LS Liquidity Sweep

A sharp move that runs a pool of stops before reversing — the classic ICT reversal trigger. Full guide →

LV Liquidity Void

A thin price area with little trading that price tends to move through quickly and later revisit. Full guide →

M

M Manipulation

The middle Power of 3 phase — the liquidity grab that traps traders before distribution. Full guide →

MB Mitigation Block

A block left where institutions mitigate an earlier position, acting as a support or resistance zone. Full guide →

MMXM Market Maker Buy/Sell Model

ICT’s model of how market makers engineer a full move — accumulation, distribution, and the reversal between. Full guide →

MSS Market Structure Shift

The displacement-backed structural break that triggers a lower-timeframe reversal entry. Full guide →

N

NDOG New Day Opening Gap

The gap between one day’s close and the next day’s open, which price often reacts to. Full guide →

NWOG New Week Opening Gap

The gap between Friday’s close and Sunday/Monday’s open — a key weekly reference level. Full guide →

O

OB Order Block

The origin candle of a strong move — where institutions loaded orders — and a precise re-entry zone. Full guide →

OTE Optimal Trade Entry

The 62%-79% retracement zone of an impulse leg, offering the best risk-to-reward entry with the trend. Full guide →

P

PDH / PDL Previous Day High / Low

Yesterday’s extremes — common liquidity targets and daily bias reference points. Full guide →

PD Array Premium / Discount Array

Any specific institutional price level within a range — order blocks, FVGs, breakers and more. Full guide →

PO3 Power of 3

Accumulation, Manipulation, Distribution — the daily delivery template of price. Full guide →

R

RB Rejection Block

A block formed by long wicks rejecting a level, marking where price refused to trade and reversed. Full guide →

RC Reference Candle

In Candle Range Theory, the higher-timeframe candle whose range is read for the sweep-and-reverse. Full guide →

S

SB Silver Bullet

A one-hour NY AM window (10-11 ET) delivering a reliable FVG entry in the direction of the daily bias. Full guide →

SIBI Sell-Side Imbalance, Buy-Side Inefficiency

A bearish fair value gap — a downside three-candle imbalance price returns to rebalance. Full guide →

SMC Smart Money Concepts

The popularised framework built on the same liquidity, imbalance and structure foundations as ICT. Full guide →

SMT Smart Money Technique (Divergence)

Disagreement between two correlated markets at a key level, revealing smart money rejecting it. Full guide →

SSL Sell-Side Liquidity

Resting orders below old lows — the stops of buyers and orders of breakout sellers. Full guide →

T

TS Turtle Soup

The failed-breakout reversal — price sweeps an equal high/low, fails, and reverses. Full guide →

U

Unicorn Unicorn Model

A high-probability confluence where a breaker block overlaps a fair value gap. Full guide →

How to Use This List

Abbreviations are the shorthand of ICT — traders and Michael Huddleston himself use them constantly, and tutorials rarely stop to expand them. If a term here is new, click through to its full guide before moving on; the concepts build on each other, so a single unfamiliar abbreviation can make an entire lesson confusing.
If you are just starting, the abbreviations worth memorising first are FVG, OB, BOS, CHoCH, OTE, and PO3 — almost every setup uses at least one of them. From there, work through the full framework using the Most Important ICT Concepts list, which sequences everything in learning order.

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