abbreviation
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1 shortened word (n.) B1 Intermediatea short form of a word or phrase used to represent the whole thing.
a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase used to represent the whole, often involving the omission of letters.
ExampleThe abbreviation 'USA' stands for the United States of America.
ExampleThe technical manual was dense with abbreviations that required a separate glossary for the junior engineers to navigate effectively.
UsageCountable in this sense; often followed by the preposition 'for'.
PitfallThe abbreviation for 'Doctor' is 'Dr'.The abbreviation for 'Doctor' is 'Dr.'In many styles of English, abbreviations ending in a lowercase letter require a period.
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2 the act of shortening (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatethe process of making a piece of writing or a name shorter.
the act or process of abbreviating or shortening something, such as a text or a biological process.
ExampleThe abbreviation of the long report took several hours of editing.
ExampleThe editor suggested the abbreviation of the final chapter to ensure the book remained within the publisher's strict page limit.
UsageCan be used uncountably to refer to the general process.
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3 musical notation (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Musica symbol in music that tells the player how to play a note or how loud to be.
a notation in a musical score used to indicate a direction or to represent repeated notes to save space.
ExampleThe composer used the abbreviation 'mf' to show the music should be medium-loud.
ExampleThe score utilized various abbreviations, such as dashes through the stems of notes, to indicate rapid repetition without cluttering the staff.
UsageCountable; refers specifically to standardized symbols like 'pp' or 'cresc.'
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4 math/science reduction (n.) C2 Proficiency Technical Academic Sciencemaking a fraction or a biological process simpler or shorter.
the reduction of a mathematical expression to lower terms or the evolutionary loss of ancestral stages in biology.
ExampleThe abbreviation of the fraction made the math problem much easier to solve.
ExampleIn evolutionary biology, abbreviation refers to the loss of the final stages of an ancestral pattern during a species' development.
UsageUsed primarily in academic or technical literature.
First attested 1400–50. From Middle English abbreviacioun, from Middle French abreviation, from Ecclesiastical Latin abbreviātiō, from Latin ab + breviō (“shorten”), from brevis (“short”). By surface analysis, abbreviate + -ion.