different between abbreviation vs initials

For abbreviations in Wiktionary, see Category:Abbreviations by language

English

Alternative forms

• abbr., abbrv., abbrev.

Etymology

First attested 1400–50. From Middle English abbreviacioun, from Middle French abreviation, from Late Latin abbrevi?ti?, from Latin ad + brevi? (“shorten”), from brevis (“short”).Morphologically abbreviate +? -ion

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?i?.vi?e?.??n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??b?i.vi?e?.?n?/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

abbreviation (countable and uncountable, plural abbreviations)

1. The result of shortening or reducing; abridgment. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
2. (linguistics) A shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole, utilizing omission of letters, and sometimes substitution of letters, or duplication of initial letters to signify plurality, including signs such as +, =, @. [Late 16^th century.]

3. The process of abbreviating. [Mid 16^th century.]
4. (music) A notation used in music score to denote a direction, as pp or mf.
5. (music) One or more dashes through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, demisemiquavers, or hemidemisemiquavers.
6. Any convenient short form used as a substitution for an understood or inferred whole.
   • 1946-1947, President Truman's committee on Civil Rights

     The phrase "civil rights" is an abbreviation for a whole complex of relationships.

7. (biology) Loss during evolution of the final stages of the ancestral ontogenetic pattern.
8. (mathematics) Reduction to lower terms, as a fraction.

Synonyms

• abbreviature; abridgement; abstract; compend; compression; condensation; contraction; curtailment; epitome; reduction; shortcut; summary

Antonyms

• amplification; dilation; enlargement; expansion; expatiation; extension; production

Hyponyms

• (linguistics): acronym (employing initial letters or syllables); clipping (omitting several letters); initialism (employing initial letters); symbol, sign (employing marks other than letters)

Translations

References

• “abbreviation”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• “abbreviation” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "abbreviation" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

English

Noun

initials

1. plural of initial

Noun

initials pl (plural only)

1. An abbreviation of a person's name, constructed by taking the initial letters of first, last, and sometimes middle name(s). See monogram

Translations