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Not all abbreviations, though, are acronyms or initialisms—those terms refer to specific types of abbreviations formed from taking the first letters of words in a longer phrase or name.
A macronym, or nested acronym, is an acronym in which one or more letters stand for acronyms (or abbreviations) themselves. The word "macronym" is a portmanteau of " macro- " and "acronym". Some examples of macronyms are:
An initialism is an abbreviation formed from some or all of the initial letters of words in a phrase. An acronym is sometimes considered to be an initialism that is pronounced as a word (e.g. NATO), as distinct from an initialism pronounced as a string of individual letters (e.g. "UN" for United Nations).
This is a list of mnemonics used in medicine and medical science, categorized and alphabetized. A mnemonic is any technique that assists the human memory with information retention or retrieval by making abstract or impersonal information more accessible and meaningful, and therefore easier to remember; many of them are acronyms or initialisms which reduce a lengthy set of terms to a single ...
Acronyms are created to shorten long phrases and speed up communication, much like abbreviations and initialisms. While these terms are similar, they do have distinct differences to note.
BTW, while most of these are texting abbreviations or initialisms, “GOAT” is a texting acronym—what’s the difference between abbreviation vs. acronym vs. initialism? 21. TFW.
initialism = an abbreviation pronounced wholly or partly using the names of its constituent letters, e.g., CD = compact disc, pronounced cee dee pseudo-blend = an abbreviation whose extra or omitted letters mean that it cannot stand as a true acronym, initialism, or portmanteau (a word formed by combining two or more words).
When initialism is used as the preferred term, acronym refers more specifically to when the abbreviation is pronounced as a word rather than as separate letters; examples include SWAT and NASA. Initialisms, contractions and crasis share some semantic and phonetic functions, and are connected by the term abbreviation in loose parlance. [2]: p167