acronym en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈækɹənɪm/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
- (England) audio Gloucestershire
- /ˈɛkɹənəm/ (New-Zealand)
- /ˈækɹəˌnɪm/ (Canada, General-American)
Etymology
Borrowed from German Akronym (from Ancient Greek ἄκρον (ákron, “end; peak”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”)), modelled after Homonym and Synonym, first attested in German in the early 1900s and in English in 1940. By surface analysis, acro- (prefix meaning ‘beginning; high’) + -onym (suffix meaning ‘name’)
Meanings
-
An abbreviation formed by the initial letters of other words. ▸ Generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").
Pee-gee-enn. It's an acronym, that's what it is. That's what they call words made up of initials.
1940, L. Feuchtwanger, translated by W. Muir et al., Paris Gazette, iii, xlvii, p. 518:
-
An abbreviation formed by the initial letters of other words. ▸ Exclusively such abbreviations when pronounced as a word (as "laser" or "NATO").
Some teachers festoon every spare inch of wall with vocabulary choices or maths techniques to use, which look great at first, but to some children might appear quite daunting. You'll probably see unfamiliar acronyms such as Walt (We Are Learning To). Be sure to ask what they stand for and how they are used in practice.
2014 September 23, “Choosing a Primary School: A Teacher's Guide for Parents”, in The Guardian:Traders have reportedly come up with the acronym TACO, which stands for “Trump always chickens out,” to take advantage of the trade environment created by the president’s habit of threatening to impose tariffs on countries, and then backing off at the last moment.
2025 May 28, Ali Bianco, “Trump’s not happy about Wall Street’s name for tariff flip-flops”, in POLITICO:
-
An abbreviation formed by the beginning letters or syllables of other words; this sense includes syllabic abbreviations such as Benelux and satnav.
Acronyms or telescoped names like nabisco from National Biscuit Company.
1950, Simeon Potter, Our Language, page 163:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| acronyms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
pseudo-acronym · initialism · orphan acronym · pseudo-acronym · orphan acronym
Deriveds
nested acronym · orphan acronym · acronymous · acronymic · apronym · acronymist · redundant acronym syndrome · acronymphomania · acronymy · pseudo-acronym · anachronym · acronymise · bacronym · backronym · acronymania · anacronym · macronym · netcronym · acronymize · pseudoacronym · YABA · acronymitis · recursive acronym · acronymophilia
Hypernyms
abbreviation[Appendix:Glossary · word · word · abbreviation[Appendix:Glossary
Relateds
nonacronymous · acronymisation · non-acronymous · acronymization · anacronymic
Translations (89)
pl akronim (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · el ακρωνύμιο (word formed by initial letters) · bg акроним (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ru сокраще́ние (word formed by initial letters) · pt acrónimo (word formed by initial letters) · pt acrônimo (word formed by initial letters) · ca sigla (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · pt acrônimo (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · pt sigla (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · et akronüüm (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · es acrónimo (word formed by initial letters) · is upphafsstafaheiti (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · it sigla (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ia initiales (word formed by initial letters) · mi pūtaukī (word formed by initial letters) · sh akronim (word formed by initial letters) · hu mozaikszó (word formed by initial letters) · fi kirjainsana (word formed by initial letters) · pl skrót (word formed by initial letters) · tl akronim (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · eo akronimo (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · mhr аббревиатур (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ca acrònim (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · gd acranaim (word formed by initial letters) · ar اِخْتِصَار (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ia acronymo (word formed by initial letters) · nl acroniem (word formed by initial letters) · it acronimo (word formed by initial letters) · cs akronym (word formed by initial letters) · eo akronimo (word formed by initial letters) · ro acronim (word formed by initial letters) · gd geàrr-ainm (word formed by initial letters) · hu betűszó (word formed by initial letters) · ga acrainm (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · pl skrótowiec (word formed by initial letters) · nn akronym (word formed by initial letters) · oc acronim (word formed by initial letters) · pl akronim (word formed by initial letters) · fi akronyymi (word formed by initial letters) · mi kupu rāpoto (word formed by initial letters) · scn acrònimu (word formed by initial letters) · cmn 略語 /略语 (word formed by initial letters) · cmn 首字母縮略詞 /首字母缩略词 (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · el αρκτικόλεξο (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · scn acrònimu (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · cmn 縮寫 /缩写 (word formed by initial letters) · ko 약어 (word formed by initial letters) · pl skrót (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ja 略語 (word formed by initial letters) · nn akronym (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ca acrònim (word formed by initial letters) · bn আদ্যক্ষরা (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · uk акро́нім (word formed by initial letters) · ja アクロニム (word formed by initial letters) · el ακρώνυμο (word formed by initial letters) · th รัสพจน์ (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ks ژھۆٹرَن (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ar اِخْتِصَار (word formed by initial letters) · da akronym (word formed by initial letters) · es sigla (word formed by initial letters) · nb akronym (word formed by initial letters) · sv akronym (word formed by initial letters) · pl skrótowiec (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ru акро́ним (word formed by initial letters) · ga acrainm (word formed by initial letters) · sw akronimu (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ko 두문자어 (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · de Akronym (word formed by initial letters) · sh акроним (word formed by initial letters) · cmn 縮略詞 /缩略词 (word formed by initial letters) · fr acronyme (word formed by initial letters) · tr akronim (word formed by initial letters) · fi kirjainlyhenne (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · sl kratica (word formed by initial letters) · gd geàrr-ainm (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · he ראשי תיבות (word formed by initial letters) · gl acrónimo (word formed by initial letters) · mi kupu rāpoto (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · pt acrograma (word formed by initial letters) · bg акроним (word formed by initial letters) · ko 두문자어 (word formed by initial letters) · nl letterwoord (word formed by initial letters) · hu szóösszevonás (word formed by initial letters) · da akronym (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · fr sigle (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · es sigla (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · gd acranaim (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · nb akronym (any abbreviation formed by initial letters) · ja 頭字語 (word formed by initial letters)