English Explanatory Dictionary

abbreviation

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The result of shortening or reducing; abridgment.
  2. A shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase used to represent the whole, using omission of letters, and sometimes substitution of letters, or duplication of initial letters to signify plurality, including signs such as +, =, @.
  3. The process of abbreviating.
  4. A notation used in music score to denote a direction, as pp or mf.
  5. One or more dashes through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, demisemiquavers, or hemidemisemiquavers.
  6. Any convenient short form used as a substitution for an understood or inferred whole.
  7. Loss during evolution of the final stages of the ancestral ontogenetic pattern.
  8. Reduction to lower terms, as a fraction.

Pronunciation

/əˌbɹiː.viˈeɪ.ʃən/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-abbreviation.wav /əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/

Word forms

abbreviation abbreviations abbr. abbrv. abbrev.

Etymology

First attested 1400–50. From Middle English abbreviacioun, from Middle French abreviation, from Ecclesiastical Latin abbreviātiō, from Latin ad + breviō (“shorten”), from brevis (“short”). By surface analysis, abbreviate + -ion.

Synonyms

abbreviature abridgement abstract compend compression condensation contraction curtailment epitome reduction shortcut summary

Antonyms

amplification dilation enlargement expansion expatiation extension production

Derived words

abbreviationitis graphic abbreviation syllabic abbreviation unabbreviation

Translations

Afrikaans: verkorting German: Zusammenfassung German: Abstract Greek: σύνοψη Italian: riassunto Korean: 요약본 Norwegian Bokmål: oppsummering Norwegian Bokmål: sammendrag Scottish Gaelic: giorrachadh Tamil: சுருக்கம் Vietnamese: bài tóm tắt
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