noun
- an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of a phrase, with each letter pronounced separately
Usage: linguistics
Examples
- FBI is an initialism for Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Unlike acronyms, initialisms are pronounced letter by letter.
- NASA is an acronym, but CIA is an initialism.
- The initialism DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc.
- Students often confuse initialisms with acronyms in their writing.
- BBC is a well-known British initialism.
- The teacher explained that FAQ is an initialism, not an acronym.