backronym
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
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backronym (plural backronyms)
- A word that is originally not an acronym but is turned into one by devising a full form for it, sometimes as a folk etymology, sometimes to name a new organization, proposal, or other entity.
- 2018 March 14, Sarah Lewin, "Meet ‘Steve,’ the Aurora-Like Mystery Scientists Are Beginning to Unravel," space.com (retrieved 17 March 2018):
- [T]he phenomenon has been dubbed STEVE, a backronym that matches the name originally given by aurora watchers. (STEVE is short for "Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.")
- 2018 March 14, Sarah Lewin, "Meet ‘Steve,’ the Aurora-Like Mystery Scientists Are Beginning to Unravel," space.com (retrieved 17 March 2018):
Derived terms
Translations
Translations
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See also
Verb
backronym (third-person singular simple present backronyms, present participle backronyming, simple past and past participle backronymed)
- To create a backronym.
Further reading
- backronym on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “backronym”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.