Dear style experts, how do you tell whether to use a or an with abbreviations. When to use abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms. Acronyms and slang simply find the meaning of acronyms. American library association ala acronyms california digital library cdl glossary uc academic senate acronyms organizational chart of uc library planning groups odlis. This is the nomenclature preferred by many abbreviationwatchers, including the creators of the acronyms, initialisms and abbreviations dictionary, first published in 1960. If so, feel free to shorten up those lengthier words with recognizable abbreviations, acronyms, and even initialisms. Initialisms are very similar to acronyms in that they are made up of letters of some name or phrase, usually the first letter of each word as is common with acronyms.
Initialism definition is an abbreviation formed from initial letters. Abbreviations and acronyms matching worksheets on many topics. On the other hand, an initialism uses only the first letters of the words in a. The word acronym is fairly new, made up of the same elements as acromegaly and patronymic, and the examples used in dictionaries to illustrate the device tend to stir recent memory anzac, scuba, snafu. The articles in this series define and exemplify the most common word formation processes, or the creation of new words, in english including derivation, backformation, conversion, compounding, clipping, blending, abbreviations, acronyms, eponyms, coinages, nonce words, borrowing, and calquing. Abbreviations are shortened versions of longer words or phrases. What, then, is the difference between acronym and initialism. So, how exactly do you use acronyms and initialisms in academic writing. Acronyms are generally formed from the first letters of a longer phrase. An initialism is an unpronounceable combination of letters. Acronyms and slang search through 3 million meanings of acronyms, abbreviations, urban and internet slang online. Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from. They are also created when a phrase is represented by the first letter of each word that makes it up but they are usually pronounced by saying each letter of the acronym, like idk and atm not ahtem. What is the difference between the words acronym and initialism.
In this paper, we discuss the phases through which greek initialisms acronyms are created. To search for a specific term, click on a letter above to take you closer to the abbreviation or acronym you seek, or. Using a or an with acronyms and abbreviations by jeff humepratuch. Abbreviations, initials and acronyms english grammar. Cctv closedcircuit television, china central television, cork community tv cd compact disk. Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms grammar girl. First, lets look at the definitional differences between abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms. Lists of acronyms contain acronyms, a type of abbreviation formed from the initial components of the words of a longer name or phrase. For the purposes of this section, abbreviation will refer to all of. What is the difference between an abbreviation and an acronym. With abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms, you can condense certain areas of your writing without having to sacrifice an entire word or phrase. Quickly find zip code for location, airport code or u. Elisa although general usage favours the case for simple initialism. With more than 1,000,000 humanedited definitions, acronym finder is the worlds largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms.
I believe this article plus syllabic abbreviation should be merged into subsections of abbreviation. In the beginning was the word, and only much later the acronym. Download elseviers dictionary of acronyms, initialisms. Its kind of an extension of the last episode, because i want to clarify the difference between abbreviations and acronyms. Oppositions already presented in previous studies are taken into consideration and refined. Find out what any acronym, abbreviation, or initialism stands for. Basic beginners allpurpose symbolic instruction code. Online dictionary of library and information science. Whether its a report, a help file, or other lengthy business or technical document, youll probably need to provide a list or glossary that defines all the terms abbreviations, words, phrases that youve used in the document that are not familiar to your audience. Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms 265 aeca arms export control act aect aeromedical evacuation control team aef air expeditionary force aeg air expeditionary group aehf advanced extremely high frequency aelt aeromedical evacuation liaison team aeodp allied explosive ordnance disposal publication aeodps automated explosive ordnance disposal publication.
To see search results from any of these areas of the chicago manual of style online, click on the appropriate tab. To complicate the issue, there are hybrid formspart initialism, part acronym like cdrom and jpegfor. An initialism is a word that is formed using the first letters of the words in a phrase it is pronounced like a series of letters, not like a word. An acronym is an abbreviation used as a word, such as the words laser, radar, and dvd. Occasionally some are pronounced as words in conversation, though this is uncommon. Todays topic is the difference between abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms. The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the u. Another way of forming curtailed words is to combine. Department of health and human services, the public health service, the centers for disease control and prevention, or the authors affiliated institutions. However, these are easy to misuse, especially when introducing them in an essay.
Is the rule that compounds must be composed of whole words e. General avoid overwhelming your reader with acronyms and initialisms. I assume that an abbreviation is treated just as if it were a word, but im having trouble with some examples. In this manual, the term abbreviation is used to cover abbreviations, acronym and initialisms. Translation of acronyms and initialisms in medical texts. Acronyms and initialisms dictionary a hasc hospitalbased ambulatory surgical center hbot hyperbaric oxygen therapy hcpcs healthcare common procedure coding system hcssa home and community services support agency hfcwcs high frequency chest wall compression systems hha home health agency hhs health and human services. Abbreviations and acronyms dictionary acronym finder. An acronym is an abbreviation that is formed by combining the first letter or letters of several words. Due to rampant misuse of the term acronym some dictionaries. On the other hand, an initialism uses only the first letters of the words in a phrase to create a shorter term. Note that this list is intended to be specific to the united states government and military other nations will have their own.
Acronyms and abbreviations the product engineering division of general motors service and parts operations offers for your reference the following list of abbreviated terms and acronyms that the tech 2 displays. In academic writing, you may need to use acronyms and initialisms. The world of email, texting, and instant messaging has given rise to a whole series of acronyms and initialisms that allow texters to complete their messages more quickly. An acronym is a combination of initial or noninitial letters or syllables of the words in a phrase to form a shorter word. You should know the difference between an acronym and an initialism. How to pluralize abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms. C acronyms and initialisms get this book visit nap. Initialism definition of initialism by merriamwebster. A comprehensive view on english acronyms and alphabetisms nadina vi san university of bucharest abstract the present paper offers a systematic account of reduced formations such as acronyms and alphabetisms in english. If you need to explain the abbreviation, write out the word or phrase in full first followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. We are the worlds largest and most comprehensive directory and search engine for acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms on the internet. Nearly all are initialisms because they are pronounced letter by letter. The difference between an acronym and an initialism.
Of course, determining what is and isnt familiar or common knowledge to the readers of your document. Elseviers dictionary of acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations and symbols pdf,, download ebookee alternative reliable tips for a much healthier ebook reading. The difference between an acronym and initialism is that the abbreviation formed with initialisms is not pronounced as a word, rather you say the individual letters, such as fbi. C acronyms and initialisms climate data records from. The results of your search have been divided into the following tabbed sections. Acronyms, initialisms, and syllabic abbreviations are all types of abbreviations that dont really need their own pages, but they should have their own subsections within the abbreviation article. Fowler 11 labelled abbreviations curtailed words and noted the special circumstances of acronyms. More specifically, we show that these abbreviated configurations take the formsof.
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