acronym
Word from initials
Technically speaking, an acronym is a word formed from the initials letters of other words, such as scuba (from self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). In practice, people use the term acronym for any shortened version of a compound formed with single letters, even if the result is not pronounceable as a word. Thus, people often call abbreviations like FBI or BMW acronyms. These abbreviations are properly called initialisms. Acronyms were rare prior to the 20th century.
Shortened word form
- initialismSpelled-out letter shortening
- shorteningReducing length or duration
- contractionReduction in size
- lettersAlphabetic characters or mail
initials · condensation · shorthand · reduction · acrostic · portmanteau · syllables · pronounceable
Federal space exploration bureau
Mind's retention capacity
- recallMemory retrieval act
- learningGaining knowledge gradually
- techniqueSkilled way of performing
- associationGroup with shared aim
device · reminder · retrieval · chunking · peg · method · keyword · hook
Power to act
- institutionEstablished organization or custom
- corporationLegally separate business entity
- committeeAppointed group for duties
- departmentDistinct unit within organization
bureau · federation · alliance · consortium · foundation · association · commission · initiative
Processing data mathematically
- protocolPrescribed conduct rules
- standardLevel of quality accepted
- specificationDetailed technical requirement
- formatArrangement and presentation style
interface · system · programming · networking · database · encryption · software · hardware
abbreviation
Shortened word form
- initialismSpelled-out letter shortening
- shorteningReducing length or duration
- contractionReduction in size
letters · initials · condensation · shorthand · reduction · acrostic · portmanteau · syllables · pronounceable · capitalization
NASA
Federal space exploration bureau
AIDS · UNICEF · SWAT · OPEC · radar · sonar · AWOL · GIF · JPEG · ASCII
memory
Mind's retention capacity
association · device · reminder · retrieval · chunking · peg · method · keyword · hook · study
agency
Power to act
- institutionEstablished organization or custom
- corporationLegally separate business entity
- committeeAppointed group for duties
department · bureau · federation · alliance · consortium · foundation · association · commission · initiative · program
computing
Processing data mathematically
- protocolPrescribed conduct rules
- standardLevel of quality accepted
- specificationDetailed technical requirement
format · interface · system · programming · networking · database · encryption · software · hardware · codec
- linguistic termsanagram, homophone, homograph, palindrome, portmanteau
- Shorteningsabbreviation, initialism, contraction, truncation, clipping
- lexicologysynonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homophones, homographs
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- language usejargon, idiom, idioms, slang, dialect
- brevitybrevity, concise, succinct, terse, pithy