- a pronounceable name made up of a series of initial letters or parts of words; for example, UNESCO for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ac•ro•nym /ˈækrənɪm/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of the words in a name or phrase, as WAC from Women's Army Corps, or AIDS from acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
ac•ro•nym
(ak′rə nim),USA pronunciation n.
v.t.
ac′ro•nym′ic, a•cron•y•mous
(ə kron′ə məs),USA pronunciation adj.
ac′ro•nym′i•cal•ly, adv.
- a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set phrase or series of words, as Wac from Women's Army Corps, OPEC from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or loran from long-range navigation.
- Games, Poetryan acrostic.
v.t.
- to make an acronym of:The committee's name has been acronymed MIKE.
- 1940–45; acr- + -onym
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
acronym /ˈækrənɪm/ n
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'acronym' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
