The term was preceded in English by the word initialism, meaning an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of a phrase, and which has been in use since the late 19th century.

in·i·tial·ism. (ĭ-nĭsh′ə-lĭz′əm) n. An abbreviation consisting of the first letter or letters of words in a phrase (for example, IRS for Internal Revenue Service ), syllables or components of a word ( TNT for trinitrotoluene ), or a combination of words and syllables ( ESP for extrasensory perception) and pronounced by spelling out the letters one ...

An initialism is a term formed by abbreviating a phrase by combining certain letters of words in the phrase (often the first initial of each) into a single term. Common examples of initialisms include FBI (an initialism of Federal Bureau of Investigation ) …

noun. 2. 2. An unpronounceable abbreviation comprising the initial letters of a term and commonly used in place of that term. Each letter of an initialism is pronounced independently. Fox example, SDH is the initialism for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy.

initialism definition: 1. an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word in the name of something…. Learn more.

27/10/2019 · An initialism is an abbreviation that consists of the first letter or letters of words in a phrase, such as EU (for European Union) and NFL (for National Football League). Also called an alphabetism. Initialisms are usually shown in capital letters , …

The distinction between acronyms and initialisms - acronyms are pronounced as a single word, initialisms are pronounced as a series of individual letters - is, like many English language rules, very simple and slightly subjective. For some more entertaining abbreviations, check out our list of funny acronyms.

An abbreviation is a truncated word; an acronym is made up of parts of the phrase it stands for and is pronounced as a word (ELISA, AIDS, GABA); an initialism is an acronym that is pronounced as individual letters (DNA, RT-PCR).

05/01/2011 · But few are as familiar with term initialism, or of an important distinction between the two. An acronym is an initial abbreviation that can be pronounced as a word, such as NASA or WASP. This term is also used to refer to a series of initials pronounced individually, such as FBI or TGIF, but the technical term is initialism.

noun. Definition of initial (Entry 2 of 3) 1 a : the first letter of a name. b initials plural : the first letter of each word in a full name found that their initials were identical. 2 : a large letter …