LETTER WORD

views updated

LETTER WORD, also letter name. A WORD or NAME formed from the letters, usually the first letters, of several other words: BBC from British Broadcasting Corporation, NATO from North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is a kind of ABBREVIATION, with two forms: the INITIALISM (BBC pronounced ‘bee-bee-cee’); the ACRONYM (NATO, pronounced ‘Nay-toe’).

More From encyclopedia.com

About this article

LETTER WORD

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article

You Might Also Like