English Explanatory Dictionary

acronym

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An abbreviation formed by the initial letters of other words.
  2. Generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").
  3. Exclusively such abbreviations when pronounced as a word (as "laser" or "NATO").
  4. An abbreviation formed by the beginning letters or syllables of other words (as "Benelux").
verb
  1. To form into an acronym.

Pronunciation

/ˈæk.ɹə.nɪm/ en-uk-acronym.ogg

Word forms

acronym acronyms acronyming acronymming acronymed acronymmed

Etymology

Borrowed from German Akronym, from Ancient Greek ἄκρον (ákron, “end, peak”) and ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”), equivalent to acro- (“high; beginning”) + -onym (“name”). Modelled after Homonym and Synonym, first attested in German in the early 1900s and in English in 1940.

Related words

acronymisation acronymization anacronymic nonacronymous non-acronymous English acronyms Acronyms by language mnemonic acrostic

Derived words

acronymania acronymic acronymise acronymist acronymitis acronymize acronymophilia acronymous acronymphomania acronymy anachronym anacronym apronym backronym bacronym macronym nested acronym netcronym orphan acronym pseudoacronym pseudo-acronym recursive acronym redundant acronym syndrome YABA

Translations

Arabic: اِخْتِصَار Bengali: আদ্যক্ষরা Bulgarian: акроним Catalan: sigla Catalan: acrònim Chinese Mandarin: 首字母縮略詞 /首字母缩略词 Chinese Mandarin: 縮寫 /缩写 Chinese Mandarin: 縮略詞 /缩略词 Chinese Mandarin: 略語 /略语 Danish: akronym Esperanto: akronimo Estonian: akronüüm Finnish: kirjainlyhenne Finnish: kirjainsana Finnish: akronyymi French: sigle French: acronyme Greek: αρκτικόλεξο Greek: ακρώνυμο Greek: ακρωνύμιο Icelandic: upphafsstafaheiti Irish: acrainm Italian: sigla Italian: acronimo Korean: 두문자어 Korean: 약어 Māori: kupu rāpoto Māori: pūtaukī Eastern Mari: аббревиатур Norwegian Bokmål: akronym Norwegian Nynorsk: akronym Polish: akronim Polish: skrót Polish: skrótowiec Portuguese: sigla Portuguese: acrônimo Portuguese: acrograma Scottish Gaelic: acranaim Scottish Gaelic: geàrr-ainm Sicilian: acrònimu Spanish: sigla Spanish: acrónimo Swahili: akronimu Tagalog: akronim Thai: รัสพจน์ Czech: akronym Dutch: acroniem Dutch: letterwoord Galician: acrónimo German: Akronym Hebrew: ראשי תיבות Hungarian: mozaikszó Hungarian: betűszó Hungarian: szóösszevonás Interlingua: acronymo Interlingua: initiales Japanese: 頭字語 Japanese: アクロニム Japanese: 略語 Occitan: acronim Brazilian Portuguese: acrônimo European Portuguese: acrónimo Romanian: acronim Russian: акро́ним Russian: сокраще́ние
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