acronym

Pluralacronyms

Formsacronyms, acronyming, acronymed

1. 1
   any initialsnouncountable

   Any short form made from the first letters of other words, even one you say letter by letter, like TNT.

   She read the acronym FBI out one letter at a time.

   The rules were full of acronyms like DVD and ATM.

   Similarabbreviation, initialism

   Note
2. 2
   said as wordnouncountable

   Only a short form made from the first letters of other words that you say as one word, like NATO.

   Scuba is an acronym, and people say it like any other word.

   We say acronyms like NASA and NATO as one word, not letter by letter.

   Note
3. 3
   first syllablesnouncountable

   A short name made from the first letters or first parts of other words, like Benelux.

   Their shop name is an acronym made from the first parts of both their last names.

   Some acronyms use the first part of each word, not just the first letter.

   Similarabbreviation

   Note
4. 4
   shorten namesverbtransitive

   To turn a long name into a short form made from its first letters.

   Let's acronym the long club name so it fits on our shirts.

   The team acronymed its project name to PACT.

   Similarabbreviate, shorten

   Note

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