| initialism |
| Definition:
A word formed from the first letters of other words. What make it an initialism is that it is pronounced as a sequence of letters. Note: As opposed to acronyms, which are also words formed from the first letters of other words, but which when spoken are pronounced as words. |
| Example:
(1) HIV (2) BBC |
| Etymology: The word was coined by combining the word initial with the suffix ism. The former derives from the Latin initium, a beginning or an entrance. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The term's first citation is from 1899: "In my ‘Handbook’ I give an initialism of Mr. Watts's, ‘P. P. C. R.’" (R. Thomas in N. & Q. 9th Ser. III. 103/1) |