abbreviation

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A short form of a word or phrase used instead of the full form, such as 'Mon.' for 'Monday'.

   Grammar: Takes a plural: two abbreviations. Each shortened form counts as one item.

   Patterns

   • the abbreviation for something
   • an abbreviation of something
   • an abbreviation in writing

   The abbreviation 'St.' can mean 'street' or 'saint'.

   Please write the abbreviation for 'January' at the top of the form.

   Learners meet common abbreviations such as 'Dr.' and 'etc.' early on.

2. 2noununcountable

   The act or process of making a word, phrase, or text shorter.

   Grammar: No plural; refers to the shortening process itself, not to one short form.

   Patterns

   • the abbreviation of something

   The abbreviation of 'exempli gratia' to 'e.g.' happened centuries ago.

   Careless abbreviation of technical terms can confuse readers.

Word forms

Common combinations

a common abbreviation

'ASAP' is a common abbreviation in work emails.

the abbreviation for something

What is the abbreviation for 'Doctor' on this form?

spell out an abbreviation

Spell out each abbreviation the first time you use it in a report.

an abbreviation in informal writing

She used an abbreviation for the state name on the envelope.

Synonyms and how they differ

short form

Neutral everyday term; an abbreviation is often the standard or official short form of a word.

acronym

An acronym is pronounced as a word (NASA); an abbreviation like 'Mon.' is not pronounced as a word.

contraction

A contraction omits letters and adds an apostrophe (don't); an abbreviation is a shortened written form (Mon.).

Word family

abbreviate verb

to make a word or text shorter.

abbreviated adjective

made shorter, as in 'an abbreviated version of the report'.

Commonly confused: abbreviation or acronym? abbreviation or contraction?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “abbreviation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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