Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An abbreviation consisting of the first letter or letters of words in a phrase (for example, IRS for Internal Revenue Service), syllables or components of a word (TNT for trinitrotoluene), or a combination of words and syllables (ESP for extrasensory perception) and pronounced by spelling out the letters one by one rather than as a solid word.
Wiktionary
- n. A term formed from the initial letter or letters of several words or parts of words, but which is itself pronounced letter by letter.
Etymologies
- initial + -ism (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The plural of an initialism is the initialism plus s.”
“I recall a LONG time ago, when one of ALA's publication I think College & Research Libraries, but that could be wrong was redesigning its cover, they spent considerable time assuring that the new "initialism" graphic would not be sufficiently prominent to trigger a "title change.”
“initialism," the difference being it is an abbreviation using only first letters of words; an acronym being a new word created by the first letters, syllables or even arbitrary parts of the original words.”
“It has become a sorrowful S.O.P. nowadays to call any initialism an acronym.”
Find All The Acronyms In Word Documents | Lifehacker Australia
“A few weeks ago, a story flashed across my computer screen about bisphenol A, the plastic additive better known by its initialism BPA.”
“So an initialism becomes a new entity, a noun in its own right, demanding - s at the end of its plural like most of its neighbours have.”
Plurals of acronyms, abbreviations, initialisms and single letters
“Strictly speaking, DVD is not an acronym but an initialism (though the distinction is not always made).”
Plurals of acronyms, abbreviations, initialisms and single letters
“AZ, an initialism for Alkmaar Zaanstreek, is a football club from Alkmaar, the Netherlands.”
“The essence of Smashing Pumpkins has returned in the form of Silversun Pickups, a Los Angeles outfit that seems to prefer the initialism "SSPU" for embarrassingly obvious reasons.”
“Is the acronym/initialism thing listed in your King of Anglophonia series?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘initialism’.
-
WF - Word Formation Words
Classes of words and types of word formation
sniglet, protologism, portmanteau word, blend, telescope-word, frankenword, double-entendre, compound, derivative, palindrome, spoonerism, malapropism and 152 more...
-
ymmez22's Words
despotic, fiefdom, demagogue, vignette, chavvy, esoteric, stalwarts, unpalatable, eradicated, rapacious, repugnant, zeitgeist and 89 more...
-
addendumb's Words
fey, cockshut, redact, beatific, melange, arcanum, rarefied, dissemble, capitulation, detritus, ennui, anodyne and 381 more...
-
bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1459 more...
-
Frackademia
Phrases I am encountering in grad work that make me want to hit my head against a wall
cartographies of ..., power-accruing ac..., narratee, ecofeminism, beyond mere consc..., dichotomistic, postmethod condition, conpenetration, emotionalist, uncoupling, positionality sta..., age-mates and 23 more...
-
Funkalicious Vocab
Words I like. No particular reason why.
magnanimous, macilent, occam's razor, cacophony, capricious, contumacious, snollygoster, autochthon, cromulent, neology, ossicusp, eponym and 12 more...
-
Fun words
Long, complicated, specialist, etymologically diverse and such.
aglet, bewildered, initialism, semantics, dotty, actual reality, suture, fad, conniption, bamboozler
-
BegtoDIFFER.com: Words dealing with t...
"Acronyms", "Initialisms", "Alphabetisms","Abbreviations" These are terms that are *supposed* to help us make sense of the confusing world of shortened names, but fail.
Most people us...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for initialism.
dontcry I thought is was a form of government practiced by lawyers. "Initial here, and here, and here and.... Jul 27, 2009
denvan Wordnik definition (via AHD)
NOUN: An abbreviation consisting of the first letter or letters of words in a phrase (for example, IRS for Internal Revenue Service), syllables or components of a word (TNT for trinitrotoluene), or a combination of words and syllables (ESP for extrasensory perception) and pronounced by spelling out the letters one by one rather than as a solid word.
http://www.wordnik.com/words/initialism Jul 27, 2009
denvan Best definition:
NOUN: an abbreviation formed from initial letters
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initialism Jul 27, 2009