When the board has no embedded components it is more correctly called a printed wiring board (PWB) or etched wiring board. However, the term printed wiring board has fallen into disuse. A PCB populated with electronic components is called a printed circuit assembly (PCA), printed circuit board assembly or PCB assembly (PCBA). The IPC preferred term for assembled boards is circuit card assembly (CCA), and for assembled backplanes it is backplane assemblies. The term PCB is used informally both for bare and assembled boards.
What's the abbreviation for a printed wiring board? What organization likes the term "circuit card assembly" for boards that have already been assembled? What would we call a printed circuit board with embedded electronics, abbreviated PCA? What's the more appropriate, but mostly unused, name for a printed circuit board when it doesn't have embedded components? What abbreviation would the IPC use for an assembled circuit board?