abbreviation
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What is an abbreviation?
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a written word or phrase used to save space and time or to avoid repetition.
Abbreviations can take several forms:
* Using the first letter or first few letters of a word, such as "Co." for "Company"
* Using the most important letters, such as "Ltd." for "Limited"
* Using the first and last letters, such as "Rd." for "Road"
* Using the first letters of words in a phrase, such as "BTW" for "by the way"Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of an expanded phrase that are pronounced as a word, such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). Initialisms, such as U.S.A., are spoken by reciting the letters.
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Why do people use abbreviations?
People use abbreviations to save space and time, and to avoid repeating long words or phrases. The trend toward abbreviation is due to economy, since studies show much information is redundant in long communications. The rise of new products and organizations needing names also encourages abbreviation, shortening long descriptive terms into easy-to-remember forms. This is common in internet communication like emails, where many abbreviations began in the 1990s. Needing speed in shorthand and avoiding redundancy in codes makes abbreviation important in stenography and cryptography too.
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What are some common examples of abbreviations?
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a written word or phrase, used to save space and time or to avoid repetition.
Common examples of abbreviations:
* Abbreviations that omit all but the first few letters of a word, usually ending in a period, such as Oct. for October or univ. for university.
* Abbreviations that omit letters from the middle of the word and usually end in a period, such as govt. for government or Dr. for Doctor.
* Abbreviations for states in the U.S. are two capitalized letters, such as AR for Arkansas or ME for Maine.
* Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of an expanded phrase and usually do not include periods, such as PR for public relations or CEO for chief executive officer.
* Combinations of the first syllables or letters of component words within phrases or names, such as NORAD for North American Aerospace Defense Command.
* Truncation, such as "the Met" for "the Metropolitan Museum of Art".4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How are abbreviations different from acronyms?
Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases, while acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of a series of words. Some acronyms can be pronounced as words (e.g., NATO), while others, called initialisms, are pronounced letter by letter (e.g., FBI). However, the term acronym is often applied to both types.
Acronyms date back to the 1940s, with the term deriving from Greek words meaning "topmost" and "name." They save space and time and avoid repetition. Some have become so common that their letter-based roots are often forgotten, such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).
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What are some rules for creating or writing abbreviations?
Abbreviations save space and time, and avoid repetition. They're made by dropping letters from a word or phrase.
Here are some guidelines:
* Represent a word using its first letter or few letters, like "n" for "noun" or "Co." for "Company".
* Omit letters from the middle, such as "govt." for "government".
* Use the first and last letters, like "Rd." for "Road".
* Combine the first letters or syllables of words in a phrase to make acronyms like NATO ("North Atlantic Treaty Organization").
* Initialisms are abbreviations spoken by reciting letters (U.S.A.).
* Acronyms are abbreviations pronounced as words (radar).2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do abbreviations help in fields like science, medicine, or texting?
Abbreviations help save time and space in fields like science, medicine, and texting. In science and medicine, they condense long descriptive terms into shorter, easy-to-remember forms. For example, in medicine, MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Similarly, texting uses abbreviations to overcome the awkwardness of typing on numerical keypads and the restricted space on phone screens. Texting abbreviations include LOL for "laughing out loud". Overall, abbreviations provide convenience and speed in communication.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
abbreviation, in communications (especially written), the process or result of representing a word or group of words by a shorter form of the word or phrase. Abbreviations take many forms and can be found in ancient Greek inscriptions, in medieval manuscripts (e.g., “DN” for “Dominus Noster”), and in the Qurʾān. But it was the so-called information explosion of the 20th century that made abbreviation a common practice in communication.
A major factor in the trend toward abbreviation is that of economy. Scientific studies indicate that a significant amount of all information in relatively long communications is redundant, and this knowledge makes abbreviation not only possible but convenient. Another factor in the development of abbreviations is the proliferation of new products and organizations that need to be named. Long descriptive terms can be shortened into mnemonic units. This is especially noticeable in Internet communication, particularly with e-mails, where a huge number of abbreviated forms came into use beginning in the 1990s. The need for speed in shorthand and the desire to avoid redundancy in codes makes abbreviation an important element in stenography and cryptography as well.
There are several important forms of abbreviation. One form entails representing a single word either by its first letter or first few letters (as “n” for “noun,” or “Co.” for “Company”), by its most important letters (as “Ltd.” for “Limited”), or by its first and last letters (as “Rd.” for “Road”). These abbreviations are usually spoken as the whole word they represent.
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Truncation is especially common in popular speech, as, for example, “the Met” for “the Metropolitan Museum of Art” or “the Metropolitan Opera Association.” At the end of the 1990s, as people began sending text messages with increasing frequency, the restricted space of mobile phone screens and the awkwardness of typing on a numerical keypad resulted in a new and highly truncated variety of language. A new set of abbreviations, often using first letters of the words in a colloquial phrase (as BTW for “by the way”) or using numbers to stand for sounds (as L8R for “later”), were combined with this truncation (as “sup” for “What’s up?”).
The combination of the first syllables or letters of component words within phrases or within names having more than one word is common and often produces acronyms, which are pronounced as words and which often cease to be considered abbreviations. An example of this type of abbreviation is the word flak (from German Fliegerabwehrkanone, “antiaircraft cannon”). Such combinations are especially common in the U.S. military, which has provided NORAD for “North American Aerospace Defense Command.” An example from the Soviet era is Narkomvneshtorg for “Narodny Komissariat Vneshney Torgovli” (Russian: “People’s Commissariate of Foreign Trade”). Other popular acronyms are the well-known radar (“radio detecting and ranging”) and snafu (“situation normal, all fouled up”).
Acronyms are to be distinguished from initialisms such as U.S.A. and NCAA, which are spoken by reciting their letters.
The symbolic notations used in mathematics and other sciences may also be regarded as forms of abbreviation.
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