Link Centre Dictionary

abbreviate

abb·re·viate

UK/əˈbriviet/ US/əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/ fairly common

verb

1.

shorten

  • “Abbreviate”
  • “and write”
  • “'”
2.

reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

  • “The manuscript must be shortened”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English abbreviaten, from abbreviat(e) (“abbreviated”, used as the participle of abbreviaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō (“to shorten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), formed from ab- + breviō (“to shorten”), from brevis (“short”). Alternatively, a back-formation from abbreviation. Doublet of abridge.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.