acronym

[ak-ruh-nim]

noun

1. a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words and pronounced as a separate word, as Wac from Women's Army Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or loran from long-range navigation.

2. initialism.

3. an acrostic.

verb (used with object)

1. to make an acronym of.

   The committee's name has been acronymed MIKE.

acronym

/ ˈækrənɪm, əˈkrɒnɪməs /

noun

1. a pronounceable name made up of a series of initial letters or parts of words; for example, UNESCO for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

acronym

1. A word formed by combining the beginning letters of a name or phrase, as in WASP for w hite A nglo-S axon P rotestant, or by combining the initial syllables of a series of words, as in radar, which stands for ra dio de tecting a nd r anging.

Grammar Note

See abbreviation.

Acronyms are often less clumsy than the complete expressions they represent and are easier to write and remember.

Other Word Forms

• acronymic; adjective
• acronymous adjective
• acronymically adverb
• acronymic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of acronym¹

First recorded in 1940–45; acr- + -onym

Word History and Origins

Origin of acronym¹

C20: from _acro- + _-onym

Example Sentences

The MS NOW acronym — standing for “my source, news, opinion and world” — will convey that the channel has a point of view.

From Los Angeles Times

“So the NIMBYs will only get one bite at the apple,” Gamba said, using the acronym for “not in my backyard” that refers to people considered reflexively opposed to development near them.

From Salon

She also had advice for any other girls who wanted to get involved in Stem subjects - an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

From BBC

This new strategy even has an acronym, “SAM” — short for ‘Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan.’

From Salon

A week after signing a $52-million option for next season, LeBron James still owns the acronym of GOAT, only the descriptor has changed slightly: Greediest Of All Time.

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does acronym mean?

An acronym is a word formed by abbreviating a phrase by combining certain letters of words in the phrase (often the first initial of each) into a single term.Common examples of acronyms include NASA (an acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and FOMO (a slang acronym for fear of missing out). The word scuba comes from an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.Although acronym is sometimes used generally to refer to any term formed from this kind of abbreviation, it typically refers to ones that can be pronounced as a word. This is sometimes contrasted with an initialism.What’s the difference between an acronym and an initialism?Initialism is sometimes used as a synonym for acronym, but most technically it refers to an abbreviation in which each initial is pronounced separately (instead of pronouncing them together as a single word, as in scuba or NASA). For example, FBI is an initialism of Federal Bureau of Investigation; TMI is an initialism of too much information.Acronyms are often associated with their use in certain fields that use a lot of technical terms, like science, tech, and the military. But they’re popular in all kinds of contexts since they’re an easy way to make long phrases much shorter.Example: STEM is an acronym that stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.”