The term ABBREVIATION is often used in a general sense for any abbreviated form of a word or group of words. Technically speaking, however, we can distinguish three main types of abbreviated forms, so let’s compare them: abbreviation vs acronym vs initialism.
1) abbreviation – a short version of a word or phrase in writing
examples:
dept. for department
Ave. for Avenue
St. for Street
Rd. for Road
NE for northeast
Mr. for Mister
Rep. for Representative
min. for minute
vs / vs. for versus
etc. for et cetera.
2) acronym – a short version of a name or phrase formed from its initials or longer parts, pronounced as a single word
examples:
AIDS for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
GIF for Graphics Interchange Format
NASA for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
LOL for Laughing Out Loud
NAFTA for North American Free Trade Agreement
NASDAQ for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation
SWOT for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
NATO for North Atlantic Treaty Organization
KISS for Keep It Simple, Stupid
3) initialism – a short version of a name or phrase formed from its initials, pronounced letter by letter
examples:
AKA for Also Known As
CST for Central Standard Time
MD for Medical Doctor
CIA for Central Intelligence Agency
FBI for Federal Bureau of Investigation
ABS for Anti-lock Braking System
cc for cubic centimeter
DIY for Do It Yourself
PPV for Pay Per View
UFO for Unidentified Flying Object
HIV for Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HR for Human Resources
Some forms may be used as both acronyms and initialisms. For example ASAP, which stands for as soon as possible. It may be pronounced as /ˌeɪˌɛsˌeɪˈpiː/, so letter by letter – then it’s an initialism, but it’s often pronounced as one word: /ˈeɪˌsæp/. Then it’s an acronym.
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