abbreviation

Word made shorter

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase: Dr. for Doctor, etc. for et cetera, FBI for Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Some abbreviations use periods, others don't—convention varies by style and type.

Abbreviation also names the act of shortening: Abbreviation saves space in formal writing.

linguistic

contraction

Reduction in size

clippingPiece cut out
ellipsisMark indicating omitted words
truncationCutting something shorter

blending · portmanteau · syncope · elision · back-formation · reduction · morpheme · neologism

notation

shorthand

Abbreviated writing system

symbolRepresentational mark or sign
codeSymbolic communication system
cipherHidden writing system

notation · sign · glyph · ampersand · logogram · script · mark · character

acronym

NASA

Federal space exploration bureau

NATOWestern defense organization
UNESCOCultural arm of UN
SCUBAUnderwater breathing acronym

LASER · RADAR · AIDS · OPEC · FIFA · JPEG · GIF · ASCII · DNA · RNA

initialism

FBI

U.S. domestic intelligence agency

CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
BBCBritish public broadcaster
USANorth American nation, abbr.

UK · PhD · MD · CEO · ATM · DIY · FYI · NYC · EU · UN

shortening

truncate

Cut off abruptly

condenseMake more compact
compressReduce volume by force
clipCut or attach

trim · cut · curtail · reduce · contract · abridge · shorten · omit · elide · simplify

written

etc

"And so forth" shortened

govtState apparatus, abbr.
deptAbbreviated organizational unit
approxAbbreviation for roughly

misc · info · vs · cont · vol · no · Jr · Dr · Mr · Mrs

Categories

vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
crosswordsacross, cryptic, acrostic, clues, codeword
internet slangomg, yolo, hashtag, yeet, sus
shorteningabridgment, truncating, truncation, contraction, clipping
Shorteningsacronym, initialism, contraction, truncation, clipping
brief formsconcision, terseness, acronym, shorthand, summary

Opposites

length/completeness

abbreviationfull name

All given names together

expansion · full version · long form

textual process

abbreviationexpansion

Increase in scope

extension · elaboration · amplification · enlargement · lengthening

Phrases

Latin abbreviationsShortened classical language terms
address abbreviationsCondensed location label parts

Family

abbreviating, abbreviations

Familiarity: Top 50,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G