acronym
Syllables: ac·ro·nym/ˈækɹənɪm/US/ˈækɹəˌnɪm/
acronym noun: generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").
Noun
acronym (plural acronyms)
- 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
- 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...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
Verb
acronym (third-person singular simple present acronyms, present participle acronyming or (rare) acronymming, simple past and past participle acronymed or (rare) acronymmed)
- To form into an acronym.
acronym meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
acronym in Tamil
- அஃகுப்பெயர், சில எழுத்துக்கள் இணைந்து உருவாகிறது, முதல் எழுத்துக்கள் இணைந்து உருவாகிறது
acronym in Urdu
- سُرنامِیَہ
acronym in Bengali
- any abbreviation formed by initial letters
- আদ্যক্ষরা addokkhora
acronym in Telugu
- acronym
- సంక్షిప్తపదము saṅkṣiptapadamu
More languagesFewer languages
- acronym in Kannada
- ಅಡಕಪದ, ಅಡಕನುಡಿ, ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತರೂಪ, ಕಿರುಬರಿಗೆ
- acronym in Tagalog
- akronim
- acronym in Arabic
- اِخْتِصَار iḵtiṣār
- acronym in Thai
- รัสพจน์ rát-sà-pót
- Kashmiri
- ژھۆٹرَن ċhoṭran
Examples of acronym in a sentence
- Expansion of acronyms is often helpful for nonexpert readers (anacronyms excluded).
- The noun phrase "red blood cell", the acronym "RBC", and the word "erythrocyte" are synonymous terms.
- The conversation was in the argot of the trade, full of acronyms and abbreviations that made no sense to the uninitiate.
Forms of acronym
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | acronyms |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | acronyms |
| present participle | acronyming |
| past participle | acronymed |
| past | acronymed |
| present participle (rare) | acronymming |
| past participle (rare) | acronymmed |
| past (rare) | acronymmed |
Origin of acronym
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’)
Words formed from acronym
Words that rhyme with acronym
Questions about acronym
- What does acronym mean?
- Acronym means generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").
- What is acronym in Tamil?
- Acronym in Tamil is அஃகுப்பெயர், சில எழுத்துக்கள் இணைந்து உருவாகிறது, முதல் எழுத்துக்கள் இணைந்து உருவாகிறது. See Acronym meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is acronym?
- Acronym can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce acronym?
- Acronym is pronounced /ˈækɹənɪm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of acronym?
- The plural of acronym is acronyms.
Words near acronym in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: acronym (page history and authors); acronym (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acronym (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); సంక్షిప్తపదము (Telugu) (page history and authors); acronym (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-acronym.ogg.
Cite this entry: “acronym.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acronym. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.