| acronym |
| Definition -
A word formed from the first letters of other words and pronounced as one word. Note: This is in contrast to an initialism, which is a word also formed from the first letters of other words, but whose letters are pronounced separately, as in BBC (bee - bee - cee). |
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Example - (1) NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) (2) LASER (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) |
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Etymology - According to Fischer and Roswitha in Lexical change in present-day English (1998), the word was coined in 1943 by Bell Laboratories. Ultimately, it derives from the Greek akros, tip or end + the English combining form onym, name. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation is from 1943: "Words made up of the initial letters or syllables of other words … I have seen … called by the name acronym." Note: Acronyms were initially called protograms, a term whose first OED citation is from 1924. (Amer. N. & Q. Feb. 167/1 ) |