These are sometimes called blends by linguists, and arguments about whether the new word was formed from initial letters or blended word parts enter the realm of the philosophical. Finally, some words are formed from spelling out or rendering pronounceable their initials, like emcee MC and seabee construction battalion.
Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Words at Play What's an Initialism? More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms. Time Traveler. Love words? Abbreviations can be shortened forms of any kind. For example, appt is an abbreviation of appointment , and ASAP is an abbreviation of as soon as possible.
ASAP , however, also qualifies as an acronym because it is made up of the initial letters of the phrase it comes from: a s s oon a s p ossible. OK is technically an acronym. It comes from the phrase "oll korrect," a humorous alteration of "all correct. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acronym.
Send us feedback. See more words from the same year. Accessed 11 Nov. More Definitions for acronym. See the full definition for acronym in the English Language Learners Dictionary. Nglish: Translation of acronym for Spanish Speakers. Britannica English: Translation of acronym for Arabic Speakers.
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Save Word. Definition of acronym. Their use really took off and became common during World War II, and really accelerated during the cold war and US space programme. He also notes the use of acrostics , a poem or puzzle such as cabal , where the first initial of an existing word is made of other significant words. However, Harper argues this wordplay had been around for centuries and they aren't really acronyms: the root word already existed and no-one was pretending the initials were the source.
The word acronym itself wasn't coined until The lack of a need for such a word suggests the degree to which acronyms previously were not a part of daily life. Their use accelerated with the U. So acronyms in English are on the whole a 20th century phenomenon. Among those with pre origins are A. The word OK c. And note how these initialisms, even after more than years, are still "felt" as abbreviations, pronounced as distinct letters, and require no elaborate Internet stories.
For example, from Wikipedia: "Initialisms were used in Rome before the Christian era. Sign up to join this community.
The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. When did the use of acronyms begin? Asked 10 years, 4 months ago. Active 9 years, 4 months ago. Viewed 17k times. Improve this question. Mark Mark 7 7 gold badges 14 14 silver badges 20 20 bronze badges. Numismatists know that the inscriptions on ancient coins are abbreviated IMP.
The inscriptions on Greek vases character names or quotes are often abbreviated as well. Inscriptions in religious paintings are often abbreviated.
It's just a matter of available room.
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