initialism
noun
ini·tial·ism i-ˈni-shə-ˌli-zəm 
: an abbreviation formed from initial letters
Did you know?
What is the difference between the words acronym and initialism?
Acronym is a fairly recent word, dating from the 1940s, although acronyms existed long before we gave them that name. The term was preceded in English by the word initialism, meaning an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of a phrase, and which has been in use since the late 19th century.
Some people feel strongly that acronym should only be used for terms like NATO, which is pronounced as a single word, and that initialism should be used if the individual letters are all pronounced distinctly, as with FBI. Our research shows that acronym is commonly used to refer to both types of abbreviations.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Then, just when one initialism had nothing to do with the other, SPAC vehicles became an ESG thesis. 
Clifford Pearce, Forbes, 17 Aug. 2022 The British punk rock poet debuts at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart with FTHC (an initialism for Frank Turner Hardcore), his ninth studio effort. Lars Brandle, Billboard, 21 Feb. 2022 Athletes from Russia, a country officially banned from the Olympics, competed under the banner of R.O.C., the initialism for the Russian Olympic Committee. New York Times, 9 Aug. 2021 Gallucci argued that the Trump goal, which went by the initialism CVID and demanded full capitulation upfront, was never realistic. Jamie Mcintyre, Washington Examiner, 19 Nov. 2020 With the posting of the original image to Instagram, captioned with the simple and chic initialism DTMH, Solange was one of many who called out a publication for false representation. Kate Branch, Vogue, 21 Dec. 2017 At the time of Lord Fisher’s letter, at the close of World War I, Britain must have seemed awash in initialisms. WSJ, 8 Sep. 2017 Playing with these initialisms didn’t end with Lord Fisher. WSJ, 8 Sep. 2017 The question is just how abbreviated should this initialism be? Bill Daley, chicagotribune.com, 2 June 2017 See More
Clifford Pearce, Forbes, 17 Aug. 2022 The British punk rock poet debuts at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart with FTHC (an initialism for Frank Turner Hardcore), his ninth studio effort. Lars Brandle, Billboard, 21 Feb. 2022 Athletes from Russia, a country officially banned from the Olympics, competed under the banner of R.O.C., the initialism for the Russian Olympic Committee. New York Times, 9 Aug. 2021 Gallucci argued that the Trump goal, which went by the initialism CVID and demanded full capitulation upfront, was never realistic. Jamie Mcintyre, Washington Examiner, 19 Nov. 2020 With the posting of the original image to Instagram, captioned with the simple and chic initialism DTMH, Solange was one of many who called out a publication for false representation. Kate Branch, Vogue, 21 Dec. 2017 At the time of Lord Fisher’s letter, at the close of World War I, Britain must have seemed awash in initialisms. WSJ, 8 Sep. 2017 Playing with these initialisms didn’t end with Lord Fisher. WSJ, 8 Sep. 2017 The question is just how abbreviated should this initialism be? Bill Daley, chicagotribune.com, 2 June 2017 See More Word History
First Known Use
1844, in the meaning defined above
- California wild grape
- California wild rose
- California wine
- California woodpecker
- California yellow bells
- California yellowtail
- California yew
- California, Gulf of
- californiae
- californian
- Californiana
- californians
- californias
- Californio
- californio
- californios
- californite
- californites
- californium
- californiums
- califs
- caliga
- caligae
- caliginous
- caligo