# NATO

Pronunciation: say "NAY-toh" US /ˈneɪ.toʊ/, UK /ˈneɪ.təʊ/

## Proper noun

1. Acronym of North Atlantic Treaty Organization. — Acronym of North Atlantic Treaty Organization
   - Simple: Short way to say North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It names the group of allied countries that agree to defend each other.
   - _NATO coordinated joint military exercises among its member states this spring._
   - _The summit reaffirmed NATO's commitment to collective defense._
2. Acronym of National Association of Theatre Owners. *(US)* — Acronym of National Association of Theatre Owners.
   - Simple: Short way to say National Association of Theatre Owners. It was the US group for movie theater owners, now called Cinema United.
   - _At its annual convention, NATO honored several leading film distributors._
   - _NATO lobbied studios to preserve a theatrical release window for new films._

## Phrase

3. Acronym of No Action Talk Only. *(slang, Malaysia, Singapore)* — Acronym of No Action Talk Only.
   - Simple: Acronym of No Action Talk Only. People say it about someone who talks a lot but never does anything.
   - _Ever since he joined the committee, it has been pure NATO and zero results._
   - _The whole department turned out to be NATO, full of meetings but no decisions._

## Origin

**Meaning 1** — Formed from the initials of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
**Meaning 3** — Formed from 'no action, talk only', referring to talking without acting.
**Meaning 2** — Formed from the initials of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/nato (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).