abbreviation

[ uh-bree-vee-ey-shuhn ]

noun

1. a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole, as Dr. for Doctor, U.S. for United States, lb. for pound.
2. an act of abbreviating; state or result of being abbreviated; reduction in length, duration, etc.; abridgment; summary:

   His abbreviation of his famous monograph, an enormous endeavor in itself, made an excellent introduction to the volume of collected essays of which he was the editor.

3. a short phrase or reduced form used to represent a larger, more complex idea, situation, set of beliefs, etc.:

   “Freedom of speech” has become an abbreviation for a wealth of debate—and case law—about protesters' rights.

   The artist presented an abbreviation of line, plane, and curve; she creates breathtaking abstract representations of bodies you expect to leap off the canvas and start dancing.

abbreviation

/ əˌbriːvɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase used in place of the whole
2. the process or result of abbreviating

abbreviation

1. A shortened form of an expression, usually followed by a period . Dr . is a standard abbreviation for Doctor ; MA is a standard abbreviation for Massachusetts .

Grammar Note

Abbreviation is the most widely used term for a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase. Abbreviations of single words are typically formed using the first letter or letters of the word ( n. = noun; adj. = adjective ), the first letter and the last letter ( hr. = hour; Sr. = Senior ), or the most significant letters ( TNT = trinitrotoluene; Pvt. = Private ). Abbreviations may be nearly as old as writing itself; they allow a writer to save time, space, and effort. The cost of materials like parchment, paper, and ink was another major impetus to shorten words and phrases. Even with the invention of the printing press, cost remained important, and printers looked for ways to save space without diluting the message. Many abbreviations have become standard, including abbreviations for days of the week ( Mon., Tues. ) and months of the year ( Jan., Feb. ); common Latin terms ( lb., e.g. ); units of time and measurement ( min., ft. ); titles of individuals ( Mrs., Rev. ); and titles or names of organizations ( NCAA, UNESCO ), government bodies ( SCOTUS, EPA ), and states and cities ( Pa., NYC ). The usual practice in American English is to use a period to end any abbreviation that stands for a single word (for example, assoc. or assn. for association ), whereas in British English the period is typically omitted if the abbreviation includes the last letter of the word. For example, in British writing the word association might be abbreviated as either assoc. or assn (without the period); likewise, Fr. is an abbreviation for France, while Fr (no period) is the abbreviation for Father (as the title for a priest). Phrases are typically abbreviated by using the first letters or initial portions of each word or each important word, usually without any periods. Similarly, a single long word is sometimes abbreviated with the initial letters of component parts of the word. Unlike ordinary abbreviations for single words, which are almost always read as if the word were spelled out (as by reading “Dr.” as “Doctor” and “lb.” as “pound”), abbreviations consisting of initials are usually read as written—either letter by letter or as a single word. An abbreviation that is pronounced letter by letter, like FBI for Federal Bureau of Investigation or DOD for Department of Defense or TV for television, is referred to as an initialism. Many abbreviations for phrases, however, are pronounced as words: for example, NATO for N(orth) A(tlantic) T(reaty) O(rganization) or radar for ra(dio) d(etecting) a(nd) r(anging). This type of abbreviation is called an acronym. Some acronyms, like radar, laser, scuba, and Gestapo, have become so accepted as normal words that most people are unaware of their acronymic origins. In many cases an official name may be chosen purely to create an appropriate and catchy acronym, as in the federal "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act" of 2010 (the "CALM Act"). In a loose sense, initialism can refer to any abbreviation composed of initials, even if pronounced as a word; conversely, acronym has been widely adopted to refer to any such abbreviation, even if it is pronounced letter by letter. But the distinction between true acronyms (pronounced as words) and pure initialisms (said letter by letter), is a useful one. To complicate the issue, however, there are hybrid forms—part initialism, part acronym—like CD-ROM ( [see, -dee-, rom] ) and JPEG [jey, -peg] )—for which one term is as good as the other. With the increasing popularity of email, text messaging, and social media, people—especially young people—have found new ways to save time and space, bond with friends through use of in-group jargon, and keep their communications opaque to prying parental eyes, by using initialisms to represent common expressions. Among the most popular are OMG (Oh my God), BTW (by the way), AFAIK (as far as I know), LOL (laughing out loud), ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing), IMHO (in my humble opinion), FWIW (for what it’s worth), TTYL (talk to you later), and bff (best friends forever). BTW, IMHO, the rest of the population is catching on fast. OMG!

Word History and Origins

Origin of abbreviation¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English abbreviacioun from Middle French or directly from Late Latin abbreviātiōn- (stem of abbreviātiō ). See abbreviate, -ion

Example Sentences

Speaking of D.H. Lawrence, T.C. Boyle, another ye of the double abbreviation, might be the man who writes most like him today.

From The Daily Beast

GTL (Jerseyan, n.)—the abbreviation for the guido way of life, which stands for gym, tanning, laundry.

From The Daily Beast

The desert creeps at the rate of fingernails; the abbreviation for street is the same as that for saint.

From The Daily Beast

I told him the abbreviation and he typed it into the computer, his face lighting up with epiphany before sending me on my way.

From The Daily Beast

"Empey" is her pet name for him, an abbreviation of "Emperor;" and he likes to hear her say it.

From Project Gutenberg

As the word is now generally used it is an abbreviation of Pishu Huanu—Bird-dung.

From Project Gutenberg

Have we here no specimens of abbreviation; no allusion in the prologue to "omissis qu videbantur superflua?"

From Project Gutenberg

More probably the word is an abbreviation of Italian borghetto diminutive of borgo a “borough.”

From Project Gutenberg

Abbreviation Left hand up, while the R foot is moving and the L hopping.

From Project Gutenberg