Acronym Definition

ăkrə-nĭm
acronyms
noun
A word formed by combining the initial letters of a multipart name, such as NATO from N orth A tlantic T reaty O rganization or by combining the initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar from ra dio d etecting a nd r anging.
American Heritage
A word formed from the first (or first few) letters of a series of words, as radar, from radio detecting and ranging.
Webster's New World
An initialism.
American Heritage

An abbreviation formed by (usually initial) letters taken from a word or series of words, that is itself pronounced as a word, such as RAM, radar, or scuba; sometimes contrasted with initialism.

Wiktionary
A pronounceable word formed from the beginnings (letter or syllable) of other words and thus representing the phrase so formed, e.g. Benelux = the countries Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg considered as a political or economic whole.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Acronym

Noun

Singular:
acronym
Plural:
acronyms

Origin of Acronym

  • acro- +‎ -onym, first attested around 1943.

    From Wiktionary

  • acr(o)– –onym

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to acronym using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

acronym