acronym - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: acronym

Browse Nearby Entries

Abbreviations
Use Ask.com To Find It. Get Accurate Results & Fast Answers.
www.ask.com

Sponsored Link

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ac·ro·nym

Audio Help [ak-ruh-nim] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words, as Wac from Women's Army Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or loran from long-range navigation.

2.	an acrostic.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to make an acronym of: The committee's name has been acronymed MIKE.

[Origin: 1940–45; acr- + -onym

]

—Related forms

ac·ro·nym·ic, a·cron·y·mous

Audio Help [uh-kron-uh-muh

s] Pronunciation Key, adjective

ac·ro·nym·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
acronym

To learn more about acronym visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ac·ro·nym Audio Help (āk'rə-nĭm') Pronunciation Key
n. A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women's Army Corps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging.

[acr(o)- + -onym.]

ac'ro·nym'ic, a·cron'y·mous (ə-krŏn'ə-məs) adj.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
acronym

1943 coinage from acro-, comb. form of Gk. akros "tip, end" (see acrid) + Eng. -onym "name" (abstracted from homonym; see name). The practice was non-existent before 20c. except in cabalistic esoterica and acrostic poetry.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

acronym
noun
a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
acronym [(ak-ruh-nim)]

A word formed by combining the beginning letters of a name or phrase, as in WASP for white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, or by combining the initial syllables of a series of words, as in radar, which stands for radio detecting and ranging.

Note: Acronyms are often less clumsy than the complete expressions they represent and are easier to write and remember.

[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

acronym jargon
An identifier formed from some of the letters (often the initials) of a phrase and used as an abbreviation. This dictionary contains a great many acronyms; see the contents page for a list.
See also TLA.
(1995-03-15)