INITIALISM
INITIALISM, also initial word. An ABBREVIATION that consists of the INITIAL letters of a series of words, pronounced in sequence: BBC for British Broadcasting Corporation, pronounced ‘bee-bee-cee’. A letter group such as NATO, pronounced as a word (‘nay-toe’) is commonly referred to as an ACRONYM. Both initialisms and acronyms have word-like qualities and take affixes (pro-BBC, non-NATO, ex-IBMer); they are sometimes referred to jointly as letter words or letter names, and the acronym is regarded by some lexicologists as a kind of initialism. The pronunciation of initialisms is usually straightforward, but writing sometimes poses problems: formerly, points were the norm (B.B.C.), but currently an unpointed style prevails in data processing and in the Armed Services and increasingly in commerce, advertising, and publishers' house styles. Although most names are upper case, there are such exceptions as the Initial Teaching Alphabet (or initial teaching alphabet), officially abbreviated as i.t.a. and ita. See LETTER WORD.
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INITIAL , INITIAL, also initial letter, point.
1. The first LETTER of a WORD, usually capitalized in a proper NAME: the L of London, the G, B, S of George Bern… Acronym , ACRONYM Also protogram. An ABBREVIATION formed from the first letters of a series of words and pronounced as one word: NATO from North Atlantic Treat… Four-letter Word , FOUR-LETTER WORD. A word of four letters considered vulgar or obscene and referring to sex or excrement, such as (with varying degrees of offensive f… Abbreviation , ABBREVIATION The shortening of words and phrases (kilogram to kg, Imperial Chemical Industries to ICI) and a result of such shortening (MA for Master… Initiation , Initiation is a ritual practice that transcends historical and cultural boundaries. Initiation rituals often rely on sex and sexual imagery to serve… ANAGRAM , anagram •am, Amsterdam, Assam, Bram, cam, cham, cheongsam, clam, cram, dam, damn, drachm, dram, exam, femme, flam, gam, glam, gram, ham, jam, jamb, l…
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INITIALISM