Acronym and initialism
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{{selfref|For the different acronyms used on Wikipedia, see [[Wikipedia:Acronyms]].}}
{{wiktionarypar|acronym|initialism|alphabetism}}
'''Acronyms''', '''initialisms''', and '''alphabetisms''' are [[abbreviation]]s that are formed using the initial components in a phrase or name. These components may be individual letters (as in [[CEO]]), and/or parts of words (as in [[Benelux]]). There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of the various terms (see ''[[#Nomenclature|Nomenclature]]''), nor on written usage (see ''[[#Orthographic styling|Orthographic styling]]''). While popular in recent English, such abbreviations have [[#Early examples in English|historical use]] in English, as well as [[#Non-English language|other languages]]. As a type of [[word formation]] process, acronymy-initialisms are often viewed as a subtype of shortening processes (other shortening processes being [[Clipping (morphology)|clipping]] and [[backformation]]).{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
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== Nomenclature ==
''Initialism'' originally described [[abbreviations]] formed from initials, without reference to pronunciation. The word ''acronym'' was coined in 1943 by [[Bell Laboratories]]<ref>Fischer, Roswitha. (1998). ''Lexical change in present-day English: A corpus-based study of the motivation, institutionalization, and productivity of creative neologisms''. Tübingen: G. Narr.</ref> for abbreviations pronounced as words, such as ''[[NATO]]'', ''[[AIDS]]'' and ''[[Laser]]''. Of the names, ''acronym'' is the most frequently used and known; it is widely used to describe any abbreviation formed from initial letters.<ref name=AUE>
Israel, Mark, [http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxacrony.html Alt.English.Usage Fast-Access FAQ : "'''Usage Disputes : Acronym"'''], accessed May 2, 2006: <blockquote>Strictly, an acronym is a string of initial letters pronounceable as a word, such as "NATO". Abbreviations like "NBC" have been variously designated "alphabetisms" and "initialisms", although some people do call them acronyms.
According to ''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', "Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction [between acronyms and initialisms] because writers in general do not." However, two well known books on the topic are entitled ''Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations Dictionary'' (19th ed., Gale, 1993) and ''Concise Dictionary of Acronyms and Initialisms'' (Facts on File, 1988).</blockquote></ref><ref name=WDEU>Merriam-Webster, Inc. ''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', 1994. ISBN 0-877-79132-5. pp. 21–2: <blockquote>'''acronyms''' A number of commentators (as Copperud 1970, Janis 1984, Howard 1984) believe that acronyms can be differentiated from other abbreviations in being pronounceable as words. Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction because writers in general do not: <blockquote>"The powder metallurgy industry has officially adopted the acronym 'P/M Parts'" —''Precision Metal Molding'', January 1966.<br /> "Users of the term ''acronym'' make no distinction between those which are pronounced as words ... and those which are pronounced as a series of characters" —Jean Praninskas, ''Trade Name Creation'', 1968.<br />"It is not J.C.B.'s fault that its name, let alone its acronym, is not a household word among European scholars" —''Times Literary Supp.'' 5 Feb. 1970. <br />"... the confusion in the Pentagon about abbreviations and acronyms—words formed from the first letters of other words" —Bernard Weinraub., ''N.Y. Times'', 11 Dec. 1978. </blockquote>Pyles & Algeo 1970 divide acronyms into "initialisms," which consists of initial letters pronounced with the letter names, and "word acronyms," which are pronounced as words. ''Initialism'', an older word than ''acronym'', seems to be too little known to the general public to serve as the customary term standing in contrast with ''acronym'' in a narrow sense.</blockquote></ref><ref>"acronym." [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/acronym ''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary''], accessed May 2, 2006: "a word (as NATO, radar, or laser) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term; also : an abbreviation (as FBI) formed from initial letters : INITIALISM "</ref><ref name = "Crystal">[[David Crystal|Crystal, David]] (1995). ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language'', Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55985-5. p. 120: "However, some linguists do not recognize a sharp distinction between acronyms and initialisms, but use the former term for both."</ref><ref name = "Oxford">"acronym". ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English'' (1991), Oxford University Press. p. 12: "a word, usu[ally] pronounced as such, formed from the initial letters of other words (e.g. ''Ernie'', ''laser'', ''Nato'')".</ref><ref>"acronym". ''Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary'' (2003), Barnes & Noble. ISBN 0-7607-4975-2. "'''2.''' a set of initials representing a name, organization, or the like, with each letter pronounced separately, as ''FBI'' for ''Federal Bureau of Investigation''."</ref>
Others differentiate between the two terms, restricting ''acronym'' to pronounceable words formed from components (letters, usually initial, or syllables) of the constituent words, and using ''initialism'' or ''alphabetism''<ref name="NOAD2">"acronym". ''The New Oxford American Dictionary'', 2nd ed. (2005), Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517077-6. "a word formed from the initial letters of other words (e.g., radar, laser).".</ref><ref name = "Crystal" />
for abbreviations pronounced as the names of the individual letters. In the latter usage, examples of proper acronyms would be ''[[NATO]]'' ({{pronEng|ˈneɪtoʊ}}) and ''[[radar]]'' ({{IPA|[ˈreɪdɑr]}}), while examples of initialisms would include ''[[FBI]]'' ({{IPA|[ˌɛfˌbiːˈaɪ]}}) and ''[[HTML]]'' ({{IPA|[ˈeɪʧˌtiːˌɛmˌɛl]}}).<ref name=OED>"acronym" ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Ed. J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. OED Online Oxford University Press. Accessed May 2, 2006.</ref><ref name = "Crystal" /><ref name = "Oxford" />
There is no agreement on what to call abbreviations whose pronunciation involves the combination of letter names and words, such as ''[[JPEG]]'' ({{IPA|[dʒeɪ.pɛg]}}) and ''[[MS-DOS]]'' ({{IPA|[ɛm.ɛs.dɔs]}}). These abbreviations are sometimes described as ''acronym–initialism hybrids'', although most would group them under the broad meaning of ''acronym''.{{Fact|date=August 2007}}
There is also some disagreement as to what to call abbreviations that some speakers pronounce as letters and others pronounce as a word. For example, the terms ''[[Uniform Resource Locator|URL]]'' and ''[[Individual Retirement Account|IRA]]'' can be pronounced as individual letters: {{IPA|[ˈjuːˌɑrˌɛl]}} and {{IPA|['ɑɪˌɑrˌeɪ]}} respectively; or as a single word: {{IPA|[ˈərl]}} and {{IPA|['ɑɪˌrʌ]}} respectively. Such constructions, however—regardless of how they are pronounced—if formed from initials, may be identified as ''initialisms'' without controversy.
The term for the word-by-word breakdown of an acronym or initialism is an ''expansion''.
== Comparing a few examples of each type ==
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*Pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters
** [[laser]]: light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation
** [[NATO]]: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
** [[scuba]]: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
*Pronounced as a word, containing non-initial letters
** [[Amphetamine]]: Alpha-methyl-phenethylamine
** [[Gestapo]]: Geheime Staatspolizei ("secret state police")
** [[Interpol]]: International Criminal Police Organization
** [[radar]]: radio detection and ranging
*Pronounced as a word or names of letters, depending on speaker or context
** IRA:
*** When used for [[Irish Republican Army]], pronounced as letters in English (''i ar a''), but as a word in Spanish {{IPA|[ˈiɾa]}}
*** When used for [[Individual Retirement Account]], can be pronounced as letters (''i ar a'') or as a word {{IPA|[ˈaɪrə]}}
** [[FAQ]]: ({{IPA|[fæk]}} or ''ef a cue'') frequently asked questions
** [[SAT]]: ({{IPA|[sæt]}} or ''es a tee'') (previously) Scholastic Achievement (or Aptitude) Test(s), now claimed not to stand for anything.
** [[SQL]]: ({{IPA|[siːkwəl]}} or ''ess cue ell'') Structured Query Language
*Pronounced as a combination of names of letters and a word
** [[CD-ROM]]: (''see-dee-''{{IPA|[rɒm]}}) Compact Disc read-only memory
** [[IUPAC]]: (''i-u-''{{IPA|[pæk]}}) International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
** [[JPEG]]: (''jay-''{{IPA|[pɛg]}}) Joint Photographic Experts Group
** [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art|SFMOMA]]: (''es-ef-''{{IPA|[moʊmə]}}) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
*Pronounced only as the names of letters
** [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]]: British Broadcasting Corporation
** [[DNA]]: deoxyribonucleic acid
** [[LED]]: light-emitting diode
** [[USA]]: United States of America
*Pronounced as the names of letters but with a shortcut
** AAA:
*** (''triple a'') [[American Automobile Association]]
*** (''three a's'') [[Amateur Athletic Association]]
** [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|IEEE]]: (''i triple e'') Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
** [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People|NAACP]]: (''en double a cee pee'') National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
** [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]]: (''en cee double a'' or ''en cee two a'' or ''en cee a a'') National Collegiate Athletic Association
*Shortcut incorporated into name
** [[3M]]: (''three em'') originally Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
** [[E³]]: (''e three'') Electronic Entertainment Exposition
** [[W3C]]: (''double-u three cee'') World Wide Web Consortium
*Multi-layered acronyms
**[[FRC]]: [[FIRST]] Robotics Competition, ''i.e.'' For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics Competition
**[[JAXB]]: Java [[API]] for [[XML]] Binding, ''i.e.'' Java Application Programming Interface for eXtensible Markup Language Binding
**[[GTK+]]: [[GIMP]] Tool Kit, ''i.e.'' [[GNU]] Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit, ''i.e.'' GNU's Not Unix Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit
**[[GAIM]]: [[GTK+]] [[AOL]] Instant Messenger, ''i.e.'' GIMP Tool Kit America OnLine Instant Messenger, ''i.e.'' GNU Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit America OnLine Instant Messenger, ''i.e.'' GNU's Not Unix Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit America OnLine Instant Messenger
**[[VHDL]]: [[VHSIC]] Hardware Description Language, ''i.e.'' Very High Speed Integrated Circuits Hardware Description Language
**[[Recursive acronyms]], in which the abbreviation itself is the expansion of one initial
*** [[GNU]]: GNU's Not Unix<!-- Don't remove the appostrophe. It's a contraction for "GNU is", rather than the pluralization of "GNU".
-->!
*** [[GNU Hurd|HURD]]: HIRD of Unix-Replacing Daemons, where "HIRD" stands for "HURD of Interfaces Representing Depth"
*** [[PHP]]: PHP Hypertext Preprocessor
*** [[VISA (credit card)|VISA]]: VISA International Service Association
*** [[Microsoft XNA|XNA]]: XNA's Not Acronymed - a game development framework from [[Microsoft]]
<!--* '''[[Pseudo-acronym]]s are used because, when pronounced as intended, they resemble the sounds of other words:'''
** [[Q8]]: "Kuwait"
** [[ICQ]]: "I seek you"
** [[IOU]]: "I owe you"
** ''[[OU812]]'': "Oh, you ate one, too?", a [[Van Halen]] album
** CQR: "secure", a brand of boat [[anchor]]-->
*Self-referential acronyms
**[[Three-letter acronym|TLA]]: Three Letter Acronym, ''i.e.'' it is an example of what it means
== Historical and current use ==
In the English language, the widespread use of acronyms and initialisms is a relatively new [[linguistics|linguistic]] phenomenon, becoming increasingly evident since the mid-20th century. As literacy rates rose, and as advances in science and technology brought with them more complicated terms and concepts, the practice of abbreviating terms became increasingly convenient. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (''OED'') records the first printed use of the word ''initialism'' as occurring in 1899, but it did not come into general use until 1965, well after acronym had become common.
Around 1943, the term ''acronym'' was coined to recognize abbreviations and contractions of phrases pronounced as words<ref name=Davenport>B. Davenport ''American Notes and Queries'' (Feb 1943) vol 2 page 167 "Your correspondent who asks about words made up of the initial letters or syllables of other words may be interested in knowing that I have seen such words called by the name ''acronym'', which is useful and clear to anyone who knows a little Greek."</ref>. For example, the army offense of being Absent Without Official Leave was abbreviated to "[[A.W.O.L.]]" in reports, but when pronounced 'awol' became an acronym.<ref>S. V. Baum (1962) ''American Speech'' Vol. 37 No. 1, The Acronym, Pure and Impure</ref> While initial letters are commonly used to form an acronym, the original definition was '' a word made from the initial letters or syllables of other words'', <ref>''American Speech'' (1943) Vol. 18, No. 2, page 142</ref> for example [[UNIVAC I|UNIVAC]] from UNIVersal Automatic Computer<ref>''American Speech'' (1950) Vol. 25 No. 2 page 147</ref>. An early commercial example was [[Nabisco]] for the National Biscuit Company<ref name=Davenport/>. The word ''acronym'' itself comes from [[Greek language|Greek]]: ἄκρος, akros, "topmost, extreme" + ὄνομα, onoma, "name."
Despite the recent emergence in English, earlier examples of acronyms in other languages exist. The early [[Christianity|Christians]] in [[Rome]] used the image of a [[fish]] as a symbol for [[Jesus]] in part because of an acronym—''fish'' in Greek is ''ΙΧΘΥΣ'' (''[[ichthys]]''), which was said to stand for {{Polytonic|Ἰησοῦς Χριστός Θεοῦ Υἱός Σωτήρ}} (''Iesous CHristos THeou (h) Uios Soter'': Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior). Evidence of this interpretation dates from the 2nd and 3rd centuries and is preserved in the [[catacombs]] of Rome. And for centuries, the Church has used the inscription ''[[INRI]]'' over the crucifix, which stands for the Latin ''Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum'' ("Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews").
Initialisms were used in Rome dating back even earlier than the Christian era. For example, the official name for the Roman Empire, and the Republic before it, was abbreviated as ''[[SPQR]]'' (''Senatus Populusque Romanus'').
Acronyms pronounced as words may be a 20th century phenomenon. Linguist David Wilton in ''Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends'' states that "forming words from acronyms is a distinctly twentieth- (and now twenty-first-) century phenomenon. There is only one known pre-twentieth-century word with an acronymic origin and it was in vogue for only a short time in 1886. The word is ''colinderies'' or ''colinda'', an acronym for the Colonial and Indian Exposition held in London in that year." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=cp0r3aa8EM8C&dq=Word+Myths:+Debunking+Linguistic+Urban+Legends&pg=PP1&ots=W-MkF4HoJH&sig=qXdp23kdeDPL7QbhkCpRMh59T-o&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fq%3DWord%2BMyths%253A%2BDebunking%2BLinguistic%2BUrban%2BLegends%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26aq%3Dt%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26client%3Dfirefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title#PPA79,M1 books.google.com/books]</ref><ref>[http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/acronyms.asp Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (Acronyms)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
=== Early examples in English ===
* ''[[12-hour clock|A.M.]]'' (Latin ''ante meridiem'', "before noon") and ''[[12-hour clock|P.M.]]'' (Latin ''post meridiem'', "after noon")
* ''[[Okay|O.K.]]'', a term of disputed origin, dating back at least to the early 19th century, now used around the world
* ''n.g.'', for "no good," from 1838
* ''B.C.'' stands for [[Before Christ]], and ''A.D.'' for ''[[Anno Domini]]'', Latin for "In the year of our Lord"
* The [[etymology]] of the word ''alphabet'' itself comes to [[Middle English]] from the [[Late Latin]] ''Alphabetum'', which in turn derives from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''Alphabetos'', from ''[[alpha (letter)|alpha]]'' and ''[[beta (letter)|beta]],'' the first two letters of the [[Greek alphabet]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=alphabet&query=alphabet/ Encyclopædia Britannica Online - Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary]</ref> Colloquially, learning the alphabet is called learning one's ''ABCs''.
=== Current use ===
Acronyms and initialisms are used most often to abbreviate names of organizations and long or frequently referenced terms. The [[Military|armed forces]] and government agencies frequently employ initialisms (and occasionally, acronyms) (a well known English-language example being the "[[alphabet agencies]]" created by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] under the [[New Deal]]). Business and industry also are prolific coiners of acronyms and initialisms. The rapid advance of science and technology in recent centuries seems to be an underlying force driving the usage, as new inventions and concepts with multiword names create a demand for shorter, more manageable names. One representative example, from the U.S. Navy, is COMCRUDESPAC, which stands for Commander, Cruisers Destroyers Pacific; it's also seen as "ComCruDesPac".
==== Jargon ====
Acronyms and initialisms often occur in [[jargon]]. An initialism may have different meanings in different areas of industry, writing, and scholarship. This has led some to obfuscate the meaning either intentionally, to deter those without such domain-specific knowledge, or unintentionally, by creating an initialism that already existed. One example, now relatively obscure, is the verb "squeg", from "squeaking Megger", a term from World War II radar engineering.
==== Acronyms as legendary etymology ====
{{seealso|backronym}}
It is not uncommon for acronyms to be cited in a kind of [[false etymology]] called a [[folk etymology]] for a word. Such etymologies persist in popular culture but have no scholarly basis in [[historical linguistics]], and are examples of language-related [[urban legend]]s. For example, ''cop'' is commonly cited as being supposedly derived from "constable on patrol," ''posh'' from "[[Port Out, Starboard Home|port out, starboard home]]", and ''golf'' from "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden". Taboo words in particular commonly have such false etymologies: ''shit'' from "ship high in transit" and ''fuck'' from "for unlawful carnal knowledge."
== Orthographic styling ==
=== Punctuation ===
==== Showing the ellipsis of letters ====
Traditionally, in English, abbreviations have been written with a [[full stop|full stop/period/point]] in place of the deleted part to show the ellipsis of letters, although the [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]] and [[apostrophe]] have also had this role. In the case of most acronyms and initialisms, each letter is an abbreviation of a separate word and, in theory, should get its own termination mark. Such punctuation is diminishing with the belief that the presence of all-capital letters is sufficient to indicate that the word is an abbreviation.
===== Ellipsis-is-understood style =====
Some influential [[style guide]]s, such as that of the [[BBC]], no longer require punctuation to show ellipsis; some even proscribe it. Larry Trask, American author of ''The [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] Guide to Punctuation'', states categorically that, in [[British English]], "this tiresome and unnecessary practice is now obsolete",<ref>[http://www.informatics.susx.ac.uk/doc/punctuation/node28.html Abbreviations<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> though some other sources are not so absolute in their pronouncements<!--will get sources-->.
===== Pronunciation-dependent style =====
Nevertheless, some influential [[style guide]]s, many of them [[American English|American]], still require periods in certain instances. For example, ''[[The New York Times]]''’ guide recommends separating each segment with a period when the letters are pronounced individually, as in ''[[KGB|K.G.B.]]'', but not when pronounced as a word, as in ''[[NATO]]''.<ref name = "NY Times">
{{cite news
|url=http://nytimes.com./2004/02/07/opinion/07KRIS.html?ex=1391490000&en=f887afd296d59e2f&ei=5007
|accessdate=2008-07-05
|title=Secret Obsessions at the Top
|first=Nicholas D.
|last=Kristoff
|work=The New York Times
|date=2004-02-07
}}</ref> The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the punctuation scheme.
===== Other conventions =====
When a multiple-letter abbreviation is formed from a single word, periods are generally proscribed, although they may be common in informal, personal usage. ''TV'', for example, may stand for a ''single'' word (''television'' or ''transvestite'', for instance), and is generally spelled without punctuation (except in the plural). Although ''PS'' stands for the single word ''postscript'' (or the Latin ''postscriptum''), it is often spelled with periods (''P.S.''). ([[Wikiquote]] abbreviates ''television'' as ''T.V.'')
The [[Slash (punctuation)|slash]] (aka virgule) (/) is often used to show the ellipsis of letters in the initialism ''N/A'' (''not applicable, not available'').
Inconveniently-long words used frequently in related contexts can be represented according to their letter count. One notable example is "i18n", a short form of "internationalization", a term used in the computer field referring to adapting software for worldwide use. "Internationalization" is a 20-letter word; the "18", of course, represents the medial letters, as noted below. A related word is "localization", often seen as "l10n".
==== Representing plurals and possessives ====
The traditional style of pluralizing single letters with the addition of ''’s'' (for example, ''B'''’'''s come after A'''’'''s'') was extended to some of the earliest initialisms, which tended to be written with periods to indicate the omission of letters; some writers still pluralize initialisms in this way. Some style guides continue to require such apostrophes—perhaps partly to make it clear that the lower case ''s'' is only for pluralization and would not appear in the singular form of the word, for some acronyms and abbreviations do include lowercase letters.
However, it has become common among many writers to [[inflection|inflect]] initialisms as ordinary words, using simple ''s'', without an apostrophe, for the plural. In this case, ''compact discs'' becomes ''CDs''. The logic here is that the apostrophe should be restricted to possessives: for example, ''the '''CD’s''' label'' (the label of the compact disc).<ref>[http://pcroot.cern.ch/TaligentDocs/TaligentOnline/DocumentRoot/1.0/Docs/books/SG/SG_5.html Taligent Style Guide - A<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Multiple options arise when initialisms are spelled with periods and are pluralized: for example, ''compact discs'' may become ''C.D.’s'', ''C.D’s'', ''C.D.s'', or ''CDs''. Possessive plurals that also include apostrophes for mere pluralization and periods may appear especially complex: for example, ''the '''C.D.’s’''' labels'' (the labels of the compact discs). Some see this as yet another reason that the correct usage of apostrophes is only for possessives and not for plurals. In some instances, however, it is recognized that using an apostrophe can increase clarity, for example if the final letter of an acronym is an ''S'', as in ''SOS's'', or when writing the plural form of an abbreviation with periods<ref>[http://www.writersblock.ca/tips/monthtip/tipmar96.htm Writer's Block - Writing Tips - Plural and Possessive Abbreviations<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <ref>[http://www.editfast.com/english/grammar/apostrophes/apostrophe_plurals.htm EditFast Grammar Resource: Apostrophes: Forming Plurals<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> (In ''The New York Times'', the plural possessive of ''G.I.'', which the newspaper prints with periods in reference to [[United States Army]] soldiers, is ''G.I.’s'', with no apostrophe after the ''s''.)
A particularly rich source of options arises when the plural of an initialism would normally be indicated in a word other than the final word if spelled out in full. A classic example is ''Member of Parliament'', which in plural is ''Members of Parliament''. It is possible then to abbreviate this as ''M’s P.''
<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/anbd.bib-an41354070 Libraries Australia - T.H. McWilliam, Charles Kingsford Smith, Prime Minister of New Zealand Joseph Coates, Charles Ulm and H.A. Litchfield in front row with Members of Parliament on steps of Parliament House, Wellington, New Zealand, September 1928 [picture] / Crown Studios<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-HydJour-t1-body-d3.html Chapter III. — The House is in Session | NZETC<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
(or similar <ref>[http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/denniscj/backblockother/underpartyplan.html UNDER THE PARTY PLAN by C.J. Dennis (1876 - 1938)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>), as famously by a former Australian Prime Minister. This usage is less common than forms with "s" at the end, such as ''MPs'', and may appear dated or pedantic.
The argument that initialisms should have no different plural form (for example, "If ''D'' can stand for ''disc'', it can also stand for ''disc'''s'''''") is generally disregarded because of the practicality in distinguishing singulars and plurals. This is not the case, however, when the abbreviation is understood to describe a plural noun already: for example, ''U.S.'' is short for ''United State'''s''''', but not ''United State''. In this case, the options for making a possessive form of an abbreviation that is already in its plural form without a final ''s'' may seem awkward: for example, ''U.S.’'', ''U.S’'', ''U.S.’s'', etc. In such instances, possessive abbreviations are often foregone in favor of simple [[adjective|attributive]] usage (for example, ''the '''U.S.''' economy'') or expanding the abbreviation to its full form and ''then'' making the possessive (for example, ''the '''United States'''' economy''). On the other hand, in [[Colloquialism|colloquial]] speech the pronunciation ''United States’s'' is sometimes used.
Abbreviations that come from single, rather than multiple, words—such as ''TV'' (''television'')—are pluralized both with and without apostrophes, depending on the logic followed: that the apostrophe shows the omission of letters and makes the ''s'' clear as only a pluralizer (''TV'''’s'''''); or that the apostrophe should be reserved for the possessive (''TV'''s''''').
In some languages, the convention of doubling the letters in the initialism is used to indicate plural words: for example, the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''EE.UU.'', for ''Estados Unidos'' (''United States''). This convention is followed for a limited number of English abbreviations, such as ''[[pp]].'' for ''pages'' (although this is actually derived from the Latin abbreviation for ''paginae''), or ''MM'' for ''millions'' (frequently used in the petroleum industry).
Acronyms that are now always rendered in the lower case are pluralized as regular English nouns: for example, ''lasers''.
When an initialism is part of a [[function (computing)|function in computing]] that is conventionally written in lower case, it is common to use an [[apostrophe]] to pluralize or otherwise conjugate the token. This practice results in sentences like "Be sure to remove extraneous '''[[Dynamic-link library|.dll]]’s'''" (more than one .dll). However despite the pervasiveness of this practice, it is generally held to be technically incorrect; the preferred method being to simply append an '''s''', without the apostrophe.<ref>[http://computerdictionary.tsf.org.za/project/#N100CD Computer Dictionary Project]</ref>
In computer [[speech community|lingo]], it is common to use the name of a computer program, format, or function, acronym or not, as a verb. In such [[verbification]] of abbreviations, there is confusion about how to conjugate: for example, if the verb ''IM'' (pronounced as separate letters) means ''to send (someone) an instant message'', the past tense may be rendered ''IM'''’ed''''', ''IM'''ed''''', ''IM'''’d''''', or ''IM'''d'''''—and the third-person singular present indicative may be ''IM'''’s''''' or ''IM'''s'''''.
=== Case ===
==== All-caps style ====
The most common [[capitalization]] scheme seen with acronyms and initialisms is all-uppercase ([[All caps|all-caps]]), except for those few that have linguistically taken on an identity as regular words, with the acronymous etymology of the words fading into the background of common knowledge, such as has occurred with the words ''[[scuba]]'', ''[[laser]]'', and ''[[radar]]''.
===== Small-caps variant =====
[[Small caps]] are sometimes used in order to make the run of capital letters seem less jarring to the reader. For example, the style of some American publications, including the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' and ''[[USA Today]]'', is to use small caps for acronyms and initialisms longer than three letters{{Fact|date=August 2007}}; thus "[[U.S.]]" and "[[Franklin D. Roosevelt|FDR]]" in normal caps, but "{{sc||NATO}}" in small caps. The initialisms "[[Anno Domini|{{sc||AD}}]]" and "[[Before Christ|{{sc||BC}}]]" are often smallcapped as well, as in: "From 4004 {{sc|wrap=no||BC}} to {{sc|wrap=no||AD}} 525."
==== Pronunciation-dependent style ====
On the [[Copy editing|copyediting]] end of the publishing industry, where the aforementioned distinction between acronyms (pronounced as a word) and initialisms (pronounced as a series of letters) is usually maintained, some publishers choose to use cap/lowercase (c/lc) styling for acronyms, reserving all-caps styling for initialisms. Thus ''Nato'' and ''Aids'' (c/lc), but ''USA'' and ''FBI'' (caps). For example, this is the style used in ''[[The Guardian]]'',<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide Guardian style guide | Style guide | Guardian Unlimited<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and [[BBC News]] typically edits to this style. The logic of this style is that the pronunciation is reflected graphically by the capitalization scheme.
Some style manuals also base the letters' [[Letter case|case]] on their number. ''The New York Times'', for example, keeps ''NATO'' in all capitals (while several guides in the British press may render it ''Nato''), but uses lower case in ''[[United Nations Children's Fund|Unicef]]'' (from "United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund") because it is more than four letters, and to style it in caps might look ungainly (flirting with the appearance of "shouting capitals").
==== Back-capitalization ====
When initialisms are defined in print, especially in the case of industry-specific [[jargon]], the initial letters of the full words are often [[capitalize]]d, even when the expanded meaning is not a proper noun. This convention is pedagogically useful, because it quickly and efficiently draws the reader's attention to convey the idea "Notice that the acronym is derived from these letters", without circumlocuting to point out that fact. This is even more useful in cases where certain words contribute more than one letter to the acronym, which the letter-case differentiation can easily communicate. (For example, a writer can write, "''[[MARC standards|MARC]]'' stands for ''MAchine Readable Cataloging''.")
However, a problem lies in differentiating such pedagogical use from the usual purpose of "Title Case" capitalization, which is to mark a proper noun (for example, a [[brand|brand name]]). Pedagogical temporary capitalization can inadvertently teach readers to think that the phrase is a proper noun,{{Fact|date=October 2007}} and to think that it should ''always'' be capitalized, which in cases such as ''[[storage area network]]'' is incorrect. This produces a drift toward spurious proper-noun status that can be called ''back-capitalization'' (by analogy to ''[[back-formation]]'').{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
One way to avoid this miscommunication born of ambiguity is to achieve the pedagogical effect with bold or italic formatting of the lowercase letters, rather than with back-capitalization. For example, instead of writing, "''SAN'' stands for ''Storage Area Network''," it is less ambiguous to write, "''SAN'' stands for '''''s'''torage '''a'''rea '''n'''etwork''."
=== Numerals and constituent words ===
While typically abbreviations exclude the initials of short [[function word]]s (such as "and", "or", "of", or "to"), they are sometimes included in acronyms to make them pronounceable.
Numbers (both [[How to name numbers in English#Cardinal numbers|cardinal]] and [[How to name numbers in English#Ordinal numbers|ordinal]]) in names are often represented by [[numerical digit|digit]]s rather than initial letters: as in ''4GL'' ([[Fourth generation language]]) or ''G77'' ([[Group of 77]]). Large numbers may use [[SI prefix#Use outside SI|metric prefixes]], as with ''[[Y2K]]'' for "Year 2000." Exceptions using initials for numbers include ''[[three letter acronym|TLA]]'' (three-letter acronym/abbreviation) and ''GoF'' ([[Gang of Four (software)|Gang of Four]]). Abbreviations using numbers for other purposes include repetitions, such as ''[[W3C]]'' ("World Wide Web Consortium"); pronunciation, such as ''[[B2B]]'' ("business to business"); and [[numeronym]]s, such as ''i18n'' ("internationalization"; ''18'' represents the 18 letters between the initial ''i'' and the final ''n'').
== Changes to (or word play on) the expanded meaning ==
=== Pseudo-acronyms ===
{{main|Pseudo-acronym}}
In some cases, an acronym or initialism has been redefined as a nonacronymous name, creating a [[pseudo-acronym]]. For example, the letters making up the name of the [[SAT college entrance test|SAT]] (pronounced as letters) college entrance test no longer officially stand for anything. This trend has been common with many companies hoping to retain their [[brand]] recognition while simultaneously moving away from what they saw as an outdated image: American Telephone and Telegraph became [[AT&T]] (its parent/child, SBC, followed suit prior to its acquisition of AT&T and after its acquisition of a number of the other [[Baby Bells]], changing from Southwestern Bell Corporation), [[Kentucky Fried Chicken]] became [[KFC]], [[BP|British Petroleum]] became [[BP]] to emphasize that it was no longer only an oil company (captured by its motto "beyond petroleum"), [[Silicon Graphics, Incorporated]] became SGI to emphasize that it was no longer only a computer graphics company. [[DVD]] now has no official meaning: its advocates couldn't agree on whether the initials stood for "Digital Video Disc" or "Digital Versatile Disc," and now both terms are used.
Pseudo-acronyms may have advantages in international markets: for example, some national [[affiliate]]s of [[International Business Machines]] are legally incorporated as "IBM" (or, for example, "IBM Canada") to avoid translating the full name into local languages. Similarly, "[[UBS AG|UBS]]" is the name of the merged [[Union Bank of Switzerland]] and [[Swiss Bank Corporation]].
=== Recursive acronyms and RAS syndrome ===
{{main|Recursive acronym|RAS syndrome}}
Rebranding can lead to [[RAS syndrome|redundant-acronym syndrome syndrome]], as when [[Trustee Savings Bank]] became TSB Bank, or when [[Railway Express Agency]] became REA Express. A few [[high-tech]] companies have taken the redundant acronym to the extreme: for example, ISM Information Systems Management Corp. and SHL Systemhouse, Ltd. Another common example is ''[[RAM]] memory'', which is redundant because ''RAM'' (''random-access memory'') includes the initial of the word ''memory''. ''PIN'' stands for ''personal identification number'', obviating the second word in ''PIN number''. Other examples include ''[[Automated teller machine|ATM]] machine'' (''Automatic Teller Machine machine''), ''[[EAB bank]]'' (''European American Bank bank''), ''[[HIV]] virus'' (''Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus''), Microsoft's NT Technology (''New Technology Technology'') and the formerly redundant ''[[SAT]] test'' (''Scholastic Achievement/Aptitude/Assessment Test test'', now simply ''SAT Reasoning Test'').
=== Simple redefining ===
Sometimes, the initials continue to stand for an expanded meaning, but the original meaning is simply replaced. Some examples:
* [[GAO]] changed the full form of its name from ''General Accounting Office'' to ''Government Accountability Office''.
* [[SADD]] changed the full form of its name from ''Students Against Driving Drunk'' to ''Students against Destructive Decisions''.
* The [[OCLC]] changed the full form of its name from ''Ohio College Library Center'' to ''Online Computer Library Center''.
* ''[[YM]]'' originally stood for ''Young Miss'', and later ''Young & Modern'', but now stands for simply ''Your Magazine''.
* ''WWF'' originally stood for [[World Wildlife Fund]], but now stands for [[Worldwide Fund for Nature]] (although the former name is still used in the US)
* ''[[RAID]]'' used to mean Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives, but is now commonly interpreted as Redundant Array of Independent Drives.
=== Backronyms ===
{{main|Backronym}}
A ''backronym'' (or ''bacronym'') is a [[phrase]] that is [[back-formation|constructed "after the fact"]] from a previously existing word, initialism, or acronym. For example, critics of the [[Ford Motor Company]] might humorously refer to ''Ford'' as being an acronym for a phrase such as "'''f'''ix '''o'''r '''r'''epair '''d'''aily" whilst enthusiasts could use "'''f'''irst '''o'''n '''r'''ace '''d'''ay".
Most backronym formation occurs in the (linguistic) wild owing either to humor or to ignorance of an acronym's original meaning. The novelist and critic [[Anthony Burgess]] once proposed that the word "book" ought to stand for "'''B'''ox '''O'''f '''O'''rganised '''K'''nowledge."<ref>''99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939'' (New York: Summit Books, 1984).</ref> One artificial type of backronym formation is when an acronym's official meaning is crafted to retrofit an existing acronym whose original meaning sounded less "official". This process could be described as a species of [[Thomas Bowdler|bowdlerism]]. For instance, the [[GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb]] (MOAB) recently developed in the United States is popularly called the "mother of all bombs" since it is ([http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6990815.stm or recently was]) the largest conventional bomb in the world; it is widely assumed that the "mother of all bombs" phrase was the original meaning of the MOAB acronym, being a [[snowclone]] of the earlier phrase "Mother of all Xs".
=== Contrived acronyms ===
A ''contrived acronym'' is an acronym that has been deliberately designed in such a way that it will be especially apt as a name for the thing being named (such as by having a dual meaning or by borrowing the positive connotations of an existing word). Some examples of contrived acronyms are ''[[USA PATRIOT Act|USA PATRIOT]]'', ''[[CAPTCHA]]'', and ''[[AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power|ACT UP]]''. The clothing company [[French Connection (clothing)|French Connection]] began referring to itself as ''FCUK'', supposedly standing for "French Connection United Kingdom." They then created t-shirts and several advertising campaigns that exploit the acronym's similarity to the taboo word "[[fuck]]". Other companies have done the same thing with ''FUCT'' or ''FUKT'' (sounds like "fucked"). See the [[list of fictional espionage organizations]] for more examples of contrived acronyms.
Some acronyms are chosen deliberately to avoid a name considered undesirable: for example, ''[[Verliebt in Berlin]]'' (ViB), a German [[telenovela]], was first intended to be ''Alles nur aus Liebe (All for Love)'', but was changed to avoid the resultant acronym ''ANAL''. Similarly, the Computer Literacy and Internet Technology qualification is known as ''CLaIT'', rather than ''CLIT''.
In the history of the New York City subway system, Interborough Rapid Transit was abbreviated to IRT, and Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit became BMT. However, the Independent Subway System became IND, not ISS, likely because graffiti writers would habitually prepend a P to ISS.{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
Contrived acronyms differ from [[backronym]]s in that they were originally conceived with the artificial expanded meaning, while backronyms' expansion is spurious — invented later as a joke, or as a guess at what the original expansion may have been.
== Non-English language ==
=== Hebrew ===
It's common to take more than just one initial letter from each of the words composing the acronym; regardless of this, the abbreviation sign is always written next to the last letter, even if by this it separates letters of the same original word. Examples: ארה"ב (for ארצות הברית, the [[United States]]); ברה"מ (for ברית המועצות, the [[Soviet Union]]); ראשל"צ (for ראשון לציון, [[Rishon LeZion]]); ביה"ס (for בית הספר, the school).
==== Typography ====
Hebrew [[typography]] uses a special [[punctuation]] mark called [[Gershayim]] (<span style="font-size:large;">[[״]]</span>) to denote acronyms, placing the sign between the second-last and last letters of the non-inflected form of the acronym (e.g. "Report", singular: "דו״ח"; plural: "דו״חות"); initialisms are denoted using the [[punctuation]] mark [[Geresh]] (<span style="font-size:large;">[[׳]]</span>) by placing the sign after the last letter of the initialism (e.g. "Ms.": "<span style="unicode-bidi: bidi-override; direction: ltr;">׳בג</span>").<ref name=hebrewAc>{{cite web|title=[[Academy of the Hebrew Language]]|url=http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/decision5.html Hebrew Punctuation }}</ref> However, in practice, single and double quotes are often used instead of the special punctuation marks, with the single quote used both in acronyms and initialisms.
If the acronym is read as is, then the spelling should be with a [[final form]] letter. If, on the other hand, the acronym is read as the complete phrase or read as the individual letters, then it should be spelled with a medial form letter.<ref name=hebrewAc /> In practice, this rule is more often than not ignored, and the acronyms spelled either way.
==== People ====
Acronyms have been widely used in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] since at least the [[Middle Ages]]. Several important [[rabbi]]s are referred to with acronyms of their names. For example, [[Baal Shem Tov|'''B'''aal '''Sh'''em '''T'''ov]] is called the ''Besht'' (Hebrew: בעש״ט), '''Ra'''v '''M'''oshe '''b'''en '''M'''aimon ([[Maimonides]]) is commonly known as ''Rambam'' (Hebrew: רמב״ם), '''R'''abbi '''S'''hlomo ben '''Y'''itzchak is known as [[Rashi]], and '''Ra'''bbi '''M'''oshe '''b'''en '''N'''ahman ([[Nahmanides]]) is likewise known as the ''Ramban'' (Hebrew: רמב״ן).
==== Text ====
The usage of Hebrew acronyms extends to liturgical groupings: the word ''[[Tanakh]]'' (Hebrew: תנ״ך) is an acronym for [[Torah|'''T'''orah]] (Five Books of Moses), [[Nevi'im|'''N'''evi'im]] (Book of Prophets), and [[Ketuvim|'''K'''etuvim]] (Hagiographa).
Most often, though, one will find use of acronyms as [[acrostic]]s, in both prayer, poetry (see [[Piyyut]]), and [[Kabala|kabbalistic]] works. Because each Hebrew letter also has a numeric value, embedding an acrostic may give an additional layer of meaning to these works.
One purpose of acrostics was as a [[mnemonic]] or a way for an author to weave his name as a signature, or some other spiritual thought, into his work, at a time when much was memorized. Examples of prayers which contain acrostics include:
* [[Shokhen Ad]] - Lines are written so that letters line up vertically, spelling the name Yitzchak, which may refer to the patriarch [[Yitzchak]], or to an unknown author.
* [[Ashrei]] - The first letter of every verse starts with a consecutive letter of the [[Hebrew alphabet]]
It is also a common part of [[Judaism|Jewish thought]] to make inferences based on hidden acrostics. For example the Hebrew words for "man" (''he:'' אישׁ) and "woman" (''he:'' אשׁה) can be used to draw the inference that marriage, the joining of a man and a woman, is a spiritual relationship, because if one removes from each of the words "man" and "woman", one of the letters in the word "God" (''he:'' י-ה), all that is left when "God" is removed from the joining of the two, is the word for destruction (''he:'' אשׁ ''lit: fire'') in place of each.
So much can be interpreted from Hebrew, and attributed to or inferred from it, that an interpretational system, called ''[[exegesis]]'', has been developed along these lines.
==== Pronunciation ====
In Hebrew, the abbreviations are commonly pronounced with the sound "a" inserted between the consonants: ש״ס [[Shas]], תנ״ך [[Tanakh]], שב״כ [[Shabak]], רמב״ם [[Rambam]]. (An exception is אצ״ל [[Etzel]].)
When one of the letters is [[waw (letter)|vav]] or [[yodh|yud]], these may be read as vowels ("u" and "i") instead: דו״ח (''duah'' = דין וחשבון, judgement and account); סכו״ם (''sakum'' = סכין כף ומזלג, knife spoon and fork); תפו״ז (''tapuz'' = תפוח זהב, golden apple); או״ם (''um'' = האומות המאוחדות, the [[United Nations]]); ביל״ו [[Bilu]]; לח״י [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]]. (An exception is בית״ר [[Beitar]].)
Hebrew numbers (e.g. year numbers in the [[Hebrew calendar]]) are written the same way as acronyms, with gershayim before the last character, but pronounced as separate letter names: e.g. תשס״ח (Hebrew year 2007–2008) is tav-shin-samekh-khet.
=== Declension ===
In languages where nouns are [[declension|declined]], various methods are used. An example is Finnish, where a colon is used to separate inflection from the letters:
*An acronym is pronounced as a word: Nato {{IPA|[nato]}} — Natoon {{IPA|[natoːn]}} "into Nato"
*An initialism is pronounced as letters: EU {{IPA|[eː uː]}} — EU:hun {{IPA|[eː uːhun]}} "into EU"
*An initialism is interpreted as words: EU {{IPA|[euroːpan unioni]}} — EU:iin {{IPA|[euroːpan unioniːn]}} "into EU"
=== Lenition ===
In languages such as [[Scottish Gaelic]] and [[Irish language|Irish]], where [[lenition]] (initial consonant mutation) is commonplace, acronyms must also be modified in situations where case and context dictate it. In the case of Scottish Gaelic, a lower case "h" is added after the initial consonant; for example, ''[[BBC Scotland]]'' in the genitive case would be written as ''BhBC Alba'', with the acronym pronounced "VBC". Similarly, the Gaelic acronym for "television" (''gd: telebhisean'') is ''TBh'', pronounced "TV", as in English.
=== German ===
Mid-20th century German showed a tendency toward acronym-contractions of the [[Gestapo]] (for Geheime Staatspolizei) type: other examples are [[hiwi (volunteer)|Hiwi]] (for Hilfswilliger, non-German volunteer in the German Army); [[Volkspolizei|Vopo]] (for Volkspolizist, member of police force in the [[German Democratic Republic|GDR]]); Mufuti or MuFuTi (Multifunktionstisch - multi functional table in the GDR). Mockingly, the people call this tendency AbKüFi (Abkürzfimmel – strange habit of abbreviating).
=== Asian languages ===
In [[English language]] discussion of languages with [[syllabary|syllabic]] or [[logographic]] writing systems (such as [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and [[Korean language|Korean]]), ''acronym'' describes short forms that take the first character of each multi-character element.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} For example, [[Beijing University]]—''Beijing Daxue'' (literally, ''North-Capital Great-Learning'' 北京大学)—is widely known as ''Beida'' (literally, ''North-Great'' 北大). In describing such languages, the term ''initialism'' is inapplicable.
There is also a widespread use of acronyms and initialisms in [[Indonesia]] in every aspect of social life. For example, the [[Golkar]] political party stands for Partai '''Gol'''ongan '''Kar'''ya, [[Monas]] stands for "'''Mo'''numen '''Nas'''ional" (National Monument), the ''Angkot'' public transport stands for "'''Ang'''kutan '''Kot'''a", ''warnet'' stands for "'''war'''ung inter'''net'''" or internet cafe, and many others.
== Extremes ==
{{Trivia|date=September 2007}}
* The longest acronym, according to the 1965 edition of ''Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations Dictionary'', is ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC, a [[United States Navy]] term that stands for "Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command." Another term COMNAVSEACOMBATSYSENGSTA which stands for "Commander, Naval Sea Systems Combat Engineering Station" is longer but the word "Combat" is not shortened. This has led to many heated discussions on the midwatch regarding which is the longer acronym.
* The world's longest initialism, according to the ''[[Guinness Book of World Records]]'' is NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT (Нииомтплабопармбетзелбетрабсбомонимонконотдтехстромонт). The 56-letter initialism (54 in [[Cyrillic]]) is from the ''Concise Dictionary of Soviet Terminology'' and means "The laboratory for shuttering, reinforcement, concrete and ferroconcrete operations for composite-monolithic and monolithic constructions of the Department of the Technology of Building-assembly operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for building mechanization and technical aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the USSR."
==See also==
* [[-onym]]
* [[Internet slang]]
* [[Acronym Finder]]
* [[List of abbreviations]]
* [[List of acronyms and initialisms]]
* [[RAS syndrome]] (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome)
* [[Three letter acronym]]
* [[Acrostic]]
* [[backronym]]
* [[pseudo-acronym]]
* [[recursive acronym]]
* [[syllabic abbreviation]]
* [[Acronyms in the Philippines]]
* [[Acronyms in healthcare]]
* [[Portmanteau]]
* [[List of fictional espionage organizations]]
* [[Amalgamation (names)]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.abbreviations.com Abbreviations.com] - a human edited database of acronyms and abbreviations
* [http://www.acronymfinder.com Acronym Finder] - a human edited database of acronyms and abbreviations (over 550,000 entries)
* [http://www.all-acronyms.com/ All Acronyms] - collection of acronyms and abbreviations (more than 600,000 definitions)
* [http://www.stuartbruce.net/abbrev/ The Great Abbreviations & Acronyms Hunt] - three letter and four letter abbreviations
[[Category:Abbreviations| ]]
[[Category:Acronyms| ]]
[[Category:Types of words]]
[[af:Akroniem]]
[[als:Akronym]]
[[be-x-old:Акронім]]
[[bg:Акроним]]
[[ca:Acrònim]]
[[cs:Akronym]]
[[da:Akronym]]
[[de:Akronym]]
[[et:Akronüüm]]
[[el:Αρκτικόλεξο]]
[[es:Sigla]]
[[eo:Akronimo]]
[[eu:Akronimo]]
[[fr:Sigle]]
[[gl:Acrónimo]]
[[ko:두문자어]]
[[io:Akronimo]]
[[id:Akronim]]
[[is:Upphafsstafaheiti]]
[[it:Acronimo]]
[[he:ראשי תיבות]]
[[lb:Akronym]]
[[hu:Betűszó]]
[[nl:Acroniem]]
[[ja:頭字語]]
[[no:Akronym]]
[[oc:Acronim]]
[[nds:Akronym]]
[[pl:Skrótowiec]]
[[pt:Acrónimo]]
[[ro:Acronim]]
[[ru:Акроним]]
[[sc:Acrònimu]]
[[scn:Acrònimu]]
[[simple:Acronym]]
[[sk:Akronym]]
[[sl:Akronim]]
[[fi:Akronyymi]]
[[sv:Akronym]]
[[th:อักษรย่อ]]
[[vi:Từ viết tắt từ chữ đầu]]
[[yi:ראשי תיבות]]
[[zh:首字母縮略字]]