abbreviate
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology 1 [edit]
- Either from Middle English abbreviaten, from Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō (“to shorten”), formed from ad + breviō (“shorten”), from brevis (“short”) or Back-formation from abbreviation.[1].
- See abridge.
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
abbreviate (third-person singular simple present abbreviates, present participle abbreviating, simple past and past participle abbreviated)
- (obsolete, transitive) To shorten by omitting parts or details. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century.][2]
- (Can we date this quote?) Francis Bacon:
- It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off.
- (Can we date this quote?) Francis Bacon:
- (obsolete, intransitive) To speak or write in a brief manner. [Attested from the late 16th century until the early 17th century.][2]
- (transitive) To make shorter; to shorten; to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
- (transitive) To reduce a word or phrase by means of contraction or omission to a shorter recognizable form. [First attested in the late 16th century.][2]
- (transitive, mathematics) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.
Synonyms [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to make shorter
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to reduce to lower terms
Etymology 2 [edit]
- From Late Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō (“abbreviate”).
Pronunciation [edit]
Adjective [edit]
abbreviate (comparative more abbreviate, superlative most abbreviate)
- (obsolete) Abbreviated; abridged; shortened. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century][2]
- 1892, J. J. Earle, The philology of the English tongue:
- The abbreviate form has never been able to recover that shock.
- 1892, J. J. Earle, The philology of the English tongue:
- (biology) Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][2]
Translations [edit]
biology: having one part relatively shorter
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Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
abbreviate (plural abbreviates)
- (obsolete) An abridgment. [Mid 16th century.][2]
Shorthand [edit]
- Gregg (Version: Centennial,Series 90,DJS,Simplified): a - b - r - e - v - ia - t
- (Version: Anniversary,Pre-Anniversary): a - b - r - e - v
References [edit]
- ^ 2004 [1998], Elliott K. Dobbie; Dunmore, C. William, et al., Barnhart, Robert K. editor, Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, Edinburgh, Scotland: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, ISBN 0550142304, page 2:
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2003 [1933], Brown, Lesley editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, edition 5th, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7, page 3:
Interlingua [edit]
Adjective [edit]
abbreviate (comparative plus abbreviate, superlative le plus abbreviate)
- Being abbreviated.
Italian [edit]
Verb [edit]
abbreviate
- second-person plural present tense of abbreviare
- second-person plural imperative of abbreviare
Anagrams [edit]
Latin [edit]
Verb [edit]
abbreviāte
- second-person plural present active imperative of abbreviō
