Acronym

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Table of contents

1 Etymology 2 Noun 3 Examples 4 Usage Notes 5 Translations 6 See also

Etymology

From Greek acro-, sharp or high, + nym, name

Noun

acronym, plural acronyms

1. A word formed from the initial letter or letters of several other words, and which is itself pronounced as a word.
2. (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

• RAM
• EFTA
• scuba

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 French: acronyme m German: Akronym n Interlingua: acronymo, initiales Italian: acrinomo m

Portuguese: acronimo, acrograma, sigla, abreviatura, inciial Romanian: Acronim Russian: акроним m

any abbreviation formed from initial letters

See also

• initialism
• List of acronyms
• Acronyms By Topic.