Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms 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).

06/04/2020 · Acronyms and initialisms Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations – convenient ways of avoiding having to write out (sometimes long) strings of words. Some are so familiar to us that we know immediately what they stand for. We can talk about the USA, for example, or the UN, without worrying whether readers will know what they refer to.

24/05/2012 · 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 (Federal Bureau of Investigation), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), and DVD (Digital Video Disk*).

26/08/2012 · Acronyms are shortened forms of a phrase or series of words. They become new words in themselves. Initialism is another way to shorten a phrase or series of words, and that is slightly different from acronym. This article attempts to find out these differences for the readers.

13/01/2015 · Well, yes it is an error, because initialisms aren’t acronyms. If you don’t want to call initialisms ‘initalisms’ (for the very good reason that you don’t think your readers will know the term), then call them ‘abbreviations’ instead. That may be less precise, but at least it’s not incorrect. ApK on January 13, 2015 10:55 am

08/05/2018 · Instead of choosing descriptive names, many organizations choose to be known by simple acronyms or abbreviations so that they are easy to remember in the minds of consumers.

List of Common Acronyms. "Acronym" is a blanket term that can also encompass initialisms. An initialism is also a phrase indicated by abbreviating the first letter of each word in it, but it is unpronounceable as a unique word. Instead, initialisms are pronounced by saying each letter of the word individually.

Acronyms and Abbreviations. The Acronyms section of this website is powered by the Acronym Finder, the web's most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms. The Acronym Finder allows users to decipher acronyms from a database of over 1,000,000 entries covering computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military.