IEC 60320 Appliance couplers for household and similar general purposes is a set of standards from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) specifying non-locking appliance and interconnection couplers for connecting power supply cords to electrical appliances up to 250 volts.Appliance couplers enable the use of standard inlets and country-specific cord sets which allow manufacturers to produce the same appliance for many markets, where only the cord set has to be changed for a particular market. Interconnection couplers allow a power supply from a piece of equipment or an appliance to be made available to other equipment or appliances. Couplers described under these standards have standardized current and temperature ratings.

Different types of connector (distinguished by shape and size) are specified for different combinations of current, temperature and earthing requirements. Unlike IEC 60309 connectors, they are not coded for voltage; users must ensure that the voltage rating of the equipment is compatible with the mains supply.

Each type of coupler is identified by a standard sheet number. For appliance couplers this consists of the letter C followed by a number, where the standard sheet for the appliance inlet is 1 higher than the sheet for the corresponding cable connector. Many types of coupler also have common names. The most common ones are IEC connector for the common C13 and C14, the figure 8 connector for C7 and C8, and cloverleaf connector or Mickey Mouse connector for the C5/C6. Kettle plug is a colloquial term used for the high-temperature C16 appliance inlet (and sometimes, wrongly, for the mating C15 female connector). Kettle plug is sometimes, incorrectly, used to refer to regular temperature C13 and C14 connectors.

The first edition of IEC 320 (later renumbered IEC 60320) was published in 1970

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There are two basic classifications of NEMA device: straight-blade and locking. The straight-blade 5-15 and 5-20 are found nearly everywhere in countries using the NEMA standards, and are intended for supplying lighter-duty, general-purpose electrical devices. Twist-locking types are used for heavy industrial and commercial equipment, where increased protection against accidental disconnection is required. Numbers prefixed by "L" are curved-blade, twist-locking connectors; others are straight blade and non-locking. The metal conductive blades are sometimes informally called "prongs" (as in "3-prong plug").

The numeral preceding the hyphen in NEMA nomenclature indicates the configuration, that is, the number of poles, number of wires, voltage, and whether single- or three-phase. A grounding type of device is described as two-pole, three-wire; or four-pole, five-wire; etc. A non-grounding device may be two-pole, two-wire; or three-pole, three-wire; etc.

The numeral following the hyphen is the rating of the device in amperes. The number is followed by the letter R to indicate a receptacle (female connector) or the letter P to indicate a plug (male connector).

As an example, the 5-15R is the common 125 V two-pole, three-wire receptacle. The L5-15R, while sharing the same electrical rating, is a locking design that is not physically compatible with the straight-blade 5-15 design. The 5-30 has the same two-pole, three-wire configuration and 125 V rating, but is rated 30 A.

Although there are several non-grounding device types in the NEMA standards, only three of them are in widespread use today. These are the two-pole 1-15, still in use in millions of buildings built before the 1960s, and the three-pole 10-30 and 10-50.

The small hole near the end of the power (non-ground) blades of some NEMA plugs is used for convenience in manufacturing; if present, it must be of specified diameter and position.Small specialized padlocks are available to fit these holes, allowing "lockout" of hazardous equipment, by physically preventing insertion of locked plugs into a power receptacle.

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