Year: 2012
Type: editorial
Abstract: The term acronym is the name for a word made from the first letters of each word in a series of words. Some distinguish an acronym (such as NATO), which is pronounced as a word, from an initialism (such as FBI), which is pronounced by saying each letter separately. Most people, however, ignore such distinctions. The more general term abbreviation includes acronyms but also abbreviations that use letters other than the first letters of a word (such as nm for "nanometers" or Mr. for "mister"). Here, "acronym" will be used loosely to mean any abbreviation.
Author: Chris A. Mack
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2117072776