acronym
n. countable B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈækɹənɪm// UK //ˈækɹənˌɪm// acro·nym
n. a short word made from the first letters of a longer name. You pronounce it like a normal word, not letter by letter.
n. a word formed from the initial letters of a multi-word name and pronounced as a single lexical unit.
NASA is a well-known acronym.
The teacher asked us to write down the acronym for the new science club.
While an abbreviation like 'FBI' is read letter by letter, an acronym such as 'NATO' functions as a distinct word in speech.
Borrowed from German Akronym, from Ancient Greek ἄκρον (ákron, “end, peak”) and ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”), equivalent to acro- (“high; beginning”) + -onym (“name”). Modelled after Homonym and Synonym, first attested in German in the early 1900s and in English in 1940.