English
Etymology
From Greek acro- , sharp or high, + nym , name
Noun
acronym, plural acronyms
- A word formed from the initial letter or letters of several other words, and which is itself pronounced as a word.
- (non-standard) Any abbreviation formed from the initial letters of several words, whether the abbreviation is pronounced as a word or not. (See Usage Notes below.)
Examples
Usage notes
- The term acronym is often applied to any term formed in this way, even if the result is pronouced letter by letter instead of as a word (e.g., TNT, BBC). Strictly speaking, though, these are initialisms.
- 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).
- Older usage required that each letter be followed by a point (a period or full stop). Current usage tends to omit points.
Translations
word formed from initial letters
- Dutch: acroniem , letterwoord
- Finnish: kirjainsana , akronyymi (Finnish )
- French: acronyme m
- German: Akronym n
- Interlingua: acronymo , initiales
- Italian: acrinomo m
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- Portuguese: acronimo , acrograma , sigla , abreviatura, inciial
- Romanian: Acronim
- Russian: акроним m
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any abbreviation formed from initial letters
See also
