abbreviate

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English

Etymology 1

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 also abridge.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ə.ˈbɹiː.vi.eɪt/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Verb

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  1. (obsolete, transitive) To shorten by omitting parts or details. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century.][2]
    • 1597, Francis Bacon, Essays:
      It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off.
  2. (obsolete, intransitive) To speak or write in a brief manner. [Attested from the late 16th century until the early 17th century.][2]
  3. (transitive) To make shorter; to shorten (in time); to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
    • 2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      But as delivery schedules have dwindled into hours, even the gigantic warehouse full of stuff in a central place such as the triangle is proving insufficient. Now, companies also need smaller distribution centres around the country, to respond rapidly to orders and to abbreviate the last mile as much as possible.
  4. (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]
  5. (transitive, mathematics) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.ət/, /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/

Adjective

abbreviate (comparative more abbreviate, superlative most abbreviate)

  1. (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.
  2. (biology) Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][2]
Translations

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/

Noun

abbreviate (plural abbreviates)

  1. (obsolete) An abridgment. [Mid 16th century.][2]
Translations
abridgment — see abridgment

References

  1. ^ Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], →ISBN), page 2
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abbreviate”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 3.

Interlingua

Adjective

abbreviate (comparative plus abbreviate, superlative le plus abbreviate)

  1. Being abbreviated.

Italian

Verb

abbreviate

  1. second-person plural present of abbreviare
  2. second-person plural imperative of abbreviare

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) abbreviāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of abbreviō

Scots

Pronunciation

Noun

abbreviate (plural abbreviates)

  1. (law) an abstract, an abridgement

Usage notes

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