Complete Definition of "acronym"

wikipedia
English

Etymology
From acro- "sharp, high" + -onym "name", modelled after homonym and synonym. From AGr. polytonic|�κ�ο� (akros) "extremity" and polytonic|�νομα "name".

Pronunciation
IPA|/�æk.ɹ�.nɪm/, SAMPA|/"{k.r\@.nIm/
audio|en-uk-acronym.ogg|Audio (UK)

Noun
en-noun

  1. An abbreviation formed by (usually initial) letters taken from a word or series of words, and which is itself pronounced as a word, such as RAM, radar, or scuba; sometimes contrasted with initialism.
  2. Any abbreviation so formed, regardless of pronunciation, such as TNT, IBM, or XML.

Usage notes

  1. Although contradictory, both meanings of the word acronym are in common use. The second sense is often criticized by commentators who prefer the term initialism for abbreviations that are not pronounced like an ordinary word.
  2. Acronyms are generally written with all letters in upper case. Some acronyms are treated as words in their own right and are written in lower case (such as scuba or radar).
  3. Older usage required that each letter be followed by a full stop. Current usage tends to omit full stops.
Translations
trans-top|word formed by initial letters
Croatian: t-|hr|akronim|m
Czech: t+|cs|akronym|m
Danish: t+|da|akronym|n
Dutch: t-|nl|acroniem|n, t-|nl|letterwoord|n
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjainsana, t+|fi|akronyymi
French: t+|fr|acronyme|m
Gaelic: acranaim
German: t-|de|Akronym|n
Hebrew: t-|he|ר�ש� ת���ת|m|p|sc=Hebr
Interlingua: acronymo, initial|initiales
Italian: t+|it|acronimo|m
trans-mid
Japanese: 頭�� (����, t�jigo), ����� (akuronimu)
Polish akronim m, skrót m, skrótowiec m
Portuguese: t+|pt|sigla|f, t-|pt|acronimo|m, t-|pt|acrograma|m
Romanian: t-|ro|acronim|n
Russian: t-|ru|ак�оним|m|sc=Cyrl
Serbian:

Slovene: t+|sl|kratica|f
Spanish: t+|es|acrónimo|m
Swedish: t+|sv|akronym
trans-bottom

trans-top|any abbreviation formed by initial letters
trans-mid
trans-bottom

See also
:Category:Acronyms
:Category:Abbreviations, Acronyms and Initialisms - a list of all abbreviated forms
initialism
mnemonic

ar:acronym
da:acronym
et:acronym
el:acronym
fa:acronym
fr:acronym
io:acronym
it:acronym
ja:acronym
pl:acronym
pt:acronym
ru:acronym
fi:acronym
ta:acronym
vi:acronym
tr:acronym

Revision and Credits for"acronym"
Dictionary content provided from Wiktionary.org under the
GNU Free Documentation License
 
 

 Find:
  Words Starting With:
  Words Ending With:
  Words Containing:
  Words That Match:

 
 Translate Into:
  
Dutch   French   German
  
Italian   Spanish
    Show results per page.

Browse the Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

   
Allwords Copyright 1998-2024 All rights reserved.