acronyms
nounUK /ˈæk.ɹə.nɪmz/
US /ˈæk.ɹə.nɪmz/
Acronyms are short words made from the first letters of other words.
NASA and scuba are well-known acronyms.
RELATED WORDS
OTHER MEANINGS
2. Words formed from the first letters of a phrase and pronounced as a single word, like 'laser'.
Laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.
3. The plural form referring to multiple such shortened words used in a text or speech.
The report was full of acronyms that confused new employees.
4. Informally, any abbreviation treated as a word, including initialisms like 'FBI'.
Some people loosely call initialisms like FBI acronyms.