abbreviation

Definition

The result of shortening or reducing; abridgment.

Etymology

First attested 1400–50. From Middle English abbreviacioun, from Middle French abreviation, from Ecclesiastical Latin abbreviātiō, from Latin ab + breviō (“shorten”), from brevis (“short”). By surface analysis, abbreviate + -ion.

Example Sentences

• "Hants is an abbreviation of Hampshire."
• "Americans, for example, call newcomers to Antarctica “fingies”, which comes from FNGs – a borrowed military abbreviation that means “Fucking New Guy”."
• "The phrase "civil rights" is an abbreviation for a whole complex of relationships."