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Glossary
A to Z of commonly used abbreviations and acronyms
We all encounter abbreviations or acronyms in the course of our work ... but what exactly do they really mean ???
These listings aim to try to explain some (or all) of them for you. If you have others that you regularly come across then please send them to the webmaster for consideration for inclusion on these listings.
Please select the letter from the list below that the abbreviation or acronym you are trying to decipher starts with :
Aa : Bb : Cc : Dd : Ee : Ff : Gg : Hh : Ii : Jj : Kk : Ll : Mm : Nn : Oo : Pp : Qq : Rr : Ss : Tt : Uu : Vv : Ww : Xx : Yy : Zz : Nos 1-9
- ab-bre-vi-a-tion [uh-bree-vee-'ey-shuhn]
n. A shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole. - ac-ro-nym ['ak-ruh-nim]
n. A word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words.
The definition for acronym says that it is a word, i.e., it can be pronounced. Thus, "NATO" would be an acronym, formed from the initial letters in the phrase "North Atlantic Treaty Organization". "FBI", however, would not be an acronym according to the dictionary definition, because it is not pronounced as a word, but rather spelled out (eff bee eye). And this is where the problems begin. "FBI" is technically known as an initialism, about which the dictionary has the following to say : - in-i-tial-ism [i-'nish-uh-liz-uhm]
n. 1. A name or term formed from the initial letters of a group of words and pronounced as a separate word.
2. A set of initials representing a name, organization, or the like, with each letter pronounced separately.
The first definition is almost the same as for acronym, but the second is more relaxed. However, there is no initialism element type in HTML, and the confusion is exacerbated by the fact that "acronym" in normal American parlance is used as a synonym for "initialism".
See also :
Other external websites for fun with words :
- I&DeA glossary of Local Government terms (www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=10)
- BBC - Councils get banned jargon list - 200 worst jargons terms (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7948894.stm)
- Wordsmith anagram generator (wordsmith.org/anagram)
- The anagram engine - use their anagram generator, or find valid words within words using their 'solve scrabble puzzle' link (www.easypeasy.com/anagrams)
- OjoHaven's list of collective nouns (www.ojohaven.com/collectives)
- OjoHaven's
linguistic fun page (www.ojohaven.com/fun)
- On the CliffsNotes website :
- Dickens glossary (www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/Dickens-Glossary.id-305499,articleId-30083.html)
- Shakespeare glossary (www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/Shakespeare-Glossary.id-305499,articleId-30084.html)
- Literary terms and poetry glossary (www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/Literary-Terms-Poetry-Glossary.id-305499,articleId-30165.html)
- Other useful glossaries (www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/Tools-Resources.id-305496.html)
