abbreviation

abbreviation — noun

1. a letter or group of letters that stands in for a longer word or phrase, so peop

1.nounB1
Definition

a letter or group of letters that stands in for a longer word or phrase, so people can write or say it more quickly.

Example

'Dr.' is the common abbreviation of 'Doctor' in English.

abbreviation of + full word

Renata kept asking what the abbreviation 'TBA' on the timetable meant.

naming a specific abbreviation in quotes

Common collocations
  • common abbreviation
  • standard abbreviation
  • use an abbreviation
  • stand for
Synonyms
  • acronym

    specifically an abbreviation pronounced as a word, like NASA

  • initialism

    an abbreviation said letter by letter, like FBI

  • short form

    everyday wording for the same idea

  • contraction

    a shortened form using an apostrophe, like 'don't' for 'do not'

Antonyms
  • full form

    the complete unshortened word or phrase

Grammar Patterns

abbreviation of/for + noun

Usage Note

Often followed by 'of' (when naming the long form: 'abbreviation of Doctor') or 'for' (when naming what it stands for: 'abbreviation for blood pressure'). The countable sense is far more common than sense 2.

Common Mistakes

NASA is an abbreviation about a space agency.
NASA is an abbreviation for a space agency.
use 'for' or 'of', not 'about'.

2. the action of making a word, title, or text shorter by leaving out letters, syll

2.nounC1
Definition

the action of making a word, title, or text shorter by leaving out letters, syllables, or whole sections.

Example

Through abbreviation, 'television' was reduced to 'TV' in everyday speech.

uncountable: 'through abbreviation'

The editor allowed some abbreviation of long quotations to fit the page limit.

abbreviation of + noun phrase

Common collocations
  • through abbreviation
  • allow abbreviation of
  • heavy abbreviation
Synonyms
  • shortening

    plain, everyday wording for the same process

  • abridgment

    formal; usually for shortening books, speeches, or documents

  • truncation

    technical; cutting off the end of something, often in computing

Antonyms
  • expansion

    writing out the full form of a shortened word

Grammar Patterns

abbreviation of + noun phrase

Usage Note

Uncountable in this sense — never use 'an abbreviation' or plural 'abbreviations' here. Distinguish from sense 1 (countable, the resulting short form): sense 2 names the process; sense 1 names the product of that process.

Common Mistakes

The journal allows abbreviations of long titles.' (when meaning the act)
The journal allows abbreviation of long titles.
drop the 's' for the process meaning.

Word family

  • abbreviate
    verbB2
  • abbreviated
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name shortened forms, but each fits a different shape. 'Abbreviation' is the broadest term: any letter or letter group used in place of a longer word, such as 'Dr.' for 'Doctor' or 'etc.' for 'et cetera'. 'Acronym' is narrower — it refers only to abbreviations that are pronounced as a single word, like 'NASA' or 'laser'. 'Initialism' covers abbreviations whose letters are spoken one at a time, like 'FBI' or 'BBC'. 'Contraction' is different again: it joins two words and marks the missing letters with an apostrophe, like 'don't' or 'I'm'. So 'NASA' is an acronym (and also an abbreviation), 'FBI' is an initialism (and also an abbreviation), and 'don't' is a contraction — but only 'NASA', 'FBI', and 'Dr.' are typically called abbreviations in everyday English.

abbreviation ↗acronyminitialismcontraction ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • abbreviation list
  • common abbreviation
  • standard abbreviation
  • medical abbreviation

Adverbs

Phrases

  • stand for
  • in full (vs. in abbreviation)
  • spell out the abbreviation

Prepositions

  • abbreviation of
  • abbreviation for

Etymology

LatinLate LatinOld FrenchEnglish

From Late Latin 'abbreviatio', meaning 'a shortening', built on the Latin verb 'abbreviare' ('to shorten'), which itself comes from 'brevis' ('short'). The word entered English in the late 1400s through Old French, and from the start it carried both meanings still used today: the act of shortening, and the shortened form itself. The same Latin root 'brevis' also gives English 'brief' and 'abridge'.