Acronym

== Lexicography and style guides ==
It is an unsettled question in English [[lexicography]] and [[style guide]]s whether it is legitimate to use the word ''acronym'' to describe forms that use initials but are not pronounced as a word. While there is plenty of evidence that ''acronym'' is used widely in this way, some sources do not acknowledge this usage, reserving the term ''acronym'' only for forms pronounced as a word, and using ''initialism'' or ''abbreviation'' for those that are not. Some sources acknowledge the usage, but vary in whether they criticize or forbid it, allow it without comment, or explicitly advocate it.

Some mainstream English dictionaries from across the English-speaking world affirm a [[word sense|sense]] of ''acronym'' which does not require being pronounced as a word. American English dictionaries such as ''[[Merriam-Webster]]'',<ref name="Merriam-Webster">{{cite web |title=Acronym. |url= http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/acronym |website=The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster Inc. |access-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20200122212129/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acronym |archive-date=January 22, 2020 |date=January 22, 2020}} {{blockquote|text='''acronym''' noun<br />ac·ro·nym {{!}} \ˈa-krə-ˌnim\ <br />Definition of ''acronym''<br />: a word (such as ''NATO'', ''radar'', or ''laser'') formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term <br />''also'' : an abbreviation (such as ''FBI'') formed from initial letters : {{Smallcaps|initialism}}}}</ref> Dictionary.com's ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''<ref name="Dictionary.com">{{cite web |title=Acronym. |url= https://www.dictionary.com/browse/acronym?s=t |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20200122212526/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/acronym?s=t |archive-date=January 22, 2020 |date=January 22, 2020 |quote=2. a set of initials representing a name, organization, or the like, with each letter pronounced separately; an initialism. |url-status=live}}</ref> and the ''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]''<ref name="AHD5">{{cite web |title=Acronym. |url= https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=acronym |website=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=Fifth |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |access-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20200122220158/https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=acronym |archive-date=January 22, 2020 |date=November 2011 |url-status=live}}{{blockquote|ac·ro·nym (ăk'''′'''rə-nĭm′)<br /> ''n.''<br /> '''1.''' A word formed by combining the initial letters of a multipart name, such as ''NATO'' from ''N''orth ''A''tlantic ''T''reaty ''O''rganization or by combining the initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as ''radar'' from ''ra''dio ''d''etecting ''a''nd ''r''anging.<br /> '''2.''' ''Usage Problem'' An initialism.<br />[{{Smallcaps|acr(o)- + -onym.}}]<br />ac′ro·nym'''′'''ic, a·cron'''′'''y·mous (ə-krŏn′ə-məs) ''adj.''<br />'''''Usage Note:''''' In strict usage, the term ''acronym'' refers to a word made from the initial letters or parts of other words, such as ''sonar'' from ''so(und) na(vigation and) r(anging)''. The distinguishing feature of an acronym is that it is pronounced as if it were a single word, in the manner of ''NATO'' and ''NASA''. Acronyms are often distinguished from initialisms like ''FBI'' and ''NIH'', whose individual letters are pronounced as separate syllables. While observing this distinction has some virtue in precision, it may be lost on many people, for whom the term ''acronym'' refers to both kinds of abbreviations.}}</ref> as well as the British ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''<ref name="OED">{{cite web |website=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=Third |title=acronym, n. |url= https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/1844 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=January 22, 2020 |date=December 2011 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20200122222116/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/1844 |archive-date=January 22, 2020 |url-status=live}}
{{blockquote|'''acronym, ''n.'''''<br />
'''Pronunciation:''' Brit. /ˈakrənɪm/, U.S. /ˈækrəˌnɪm/<br />
'''Origin:''' Formed within English, by compounding; modelled on a German lexical item.<br />
'''Etymons:''' {{smallcaps|acro-}} comb. form, {{smallcaps|-onym}} comb. form.<br />
'''Etymology:''' < {{smallcaps|acro-}} comb. form + {{smallcaps|-onym}} comb. form, after German ''Akronym'' (1921 or earlier).<br />
Originally ''U.S.''<br />
'''1.''' A group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter or part being pronounced separately; an initialism (such as ''ATM'', ''TLS'').<br />
In the ''O.E.D.'' the term ''initialism'' is used for this phenomenon. (See sense 2 for ''O.E.D.'' use of the word.)<br />
{{plainlist|indent=1}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1940 {{smallcaps|W. Muir & E. Muir}} tr. L. Feuchtwanger ''Paris Gaz.'' {{smallcaps|iii.}} xlvii. 518{{in5}}Pee-gee-enn. It's an acronym [Ger. ''Akronym''], that's what it is. That's what they call words made up of initials.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1947 {{smallcaps|T. M. Pearce}} in ''Word Study'' May 8/2{{in5}}The acronym DDT..trips pleasantly on the tongue and is already a household byword.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1959 ''Rotarian'' May 43/1{{in5}}DDD, an acronym that sounds more like a cattle brand.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1975 ''Jet'' 24 July 9/1{{in5}}The puns on the acronym, 'CIA', were spawned by recent disclosures about the intelligence agency.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1985 {{smallcaps|C. Jencks}} ''Mod. Movements in Archit.'' (ed. 2) i. 75{{in5}}Called by the acronym SCSD (Schools Construction System Development).}}
* {{hanging indent|text=2008 ''Atlantic Monthly'' June 104/2{{in5}}The acronym TSS—''Tout Sauf Sarkozy'' ('Anything But Sarkozy').}}
{{endplainlist}}
'''2.''' A word formed from the initial letters of other words or (occasionally) from the initial parts of syllables taken from other words, the whole being pronounced as a single word (such as ''NATO'', ''RADA'').<br />
{{plainlist|indent=1}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1943 ''Amer. Notes & Queries'' Feb. 167/1{{in5}}Words made up of the initial letters or syllables of other words..I have seen..called by the name ''acronym''.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1947 ''Word Study'' 6(''title''){{in5}}Acronym Talk, or 'Tomorrow's English'.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1950 {{smallcaps|S. Potter}} ''Our Lang.'' 163{{in5}}Acronyms or telescoped names like ''nabisco'' from ''National Biscuit Company''.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1959 ''Times'' 1 Sept. 22/3{{in5}}New words which are constructed out of initial letters are called, I understand, acronyms.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1961 ''Electronics'' 21 Apr. 51/2{{in5}}Colidar, an acronym from coherent light detecting and ranging.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=1976 {{smallcaps|P. R. Hutt}} in ''IBA Techn. Rev.'' {{smallcaps|ix.}} 4/2{{in5}}The author hit on the idea of the name 'oracle'..and it was not long before it was made into an acronym for 'Optional Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electronics'.}}
* {{hanging indent|text=2009 ''N.Y. Times'' (National ed.) 16 Apr. {{smallcaps|a}}2/2{{in5}}Turning tea into an acronym for Taxed Enough Already, demonstrators were expected to attend more than 750 rallies to protest government spending.}}{{endplainlist}}}}</ref> and the Australian ''[[Macquarie Dictionary]]''<ref name="Macquarie">{{cite web |title=acronym |url= https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/features/word/search/acronym/ |website=Macquarie Dictionary |publisher=Macmillan Publishers Australia |access-date=January 22, 2020 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20200303014940/https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/features/word/search/acronym/ |archive-date=March 3, 2020 |url-status=live}}{{blockquote|'''acronym'''<br />/ˈækrənɪm/ (''''say'''' 'akruhnim)<br />''noun'' '''1. ''' a word formed from the initial letters of a sequence of words, as ''radar'' (from ''radio detection and ranging'') or ''ANZAC'' (from ''Australian and New Zealand Army Corps''). Compare '''initialism'''.<br />'''2. ''' an initialism.<br />[{{smallcaps|acro-}} + ''-''(''o'')''nym''; modelled on {{smallcaps|synonym}}]}}</ref> all include a sense in their entries for ''acronym'' equating it with ''initialism'', although ''The American Heritage Dictionary'' criticizes it with the label "usage problem".<ref name="AHD5" /> However, many English language dictionaries, such as the ''[[Collins COBUILD Advanced Dictionary]]'',<ref name="Collins">{{cite web |title=acronym |url= https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/acronym |website=Collins COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |access-date=January 22, 2020 |quote=An acronym is a word composed of the first letters of the words in a phrase, especially when this is used as a name. An example of an acronym is 'NATO', which is made up of the first letters of the 'North Atlantic Treaty Organization'. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200208100705/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/acronym |archive-date=February 8, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]]'',<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite web |title=acronym |url= https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/acronym |website=Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=January 22, 2020 |quote=an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word in the name of something, pronounced as a word |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200208100706/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/acronym |archive-date=February 8, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Macmillan Dictionary]]'',<ref name="Macmillan">{{cite web |title=acronym |url= https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/acronym |website=Macmillan Dictionary |publisher=Macmillan Education Limited |access-date=January 22, 2020 |quote=an abbreviation consisting of letters that form a word. For example, NATO is an acronym for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200405205208/https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/acronym |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]]'',<ref name="Longman">{{cite web |title=acronym |url= https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/acronym |website=Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English |publisher=Pearson Longman |access-date=January 22, 2020 |quote=a word made up from the first letters of the name of something such as an organization. For example, NATO is an acronym for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200405215403/https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/acronym |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[New Oxford American Dictionary]]'',<ref name="NOAD">{{Cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/newoxfordamerica0000unse_l5h7/page/15/mode/2up |title=New Oxford American dictionary. |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-539288-3 |edition=3rd |location=Oxford |page=15 |oclc=614990378 |url-access=registration}}{{blockquote|text='''ac·ro·nym''' /ˈakrəˌnim/ ▸ '''n.''' an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ''ASCII'', ''NASA'').<br />—{{Smallcaps|origin}} 1940s: from Greek ''akron'' 'end, tip' + ''onoma'' 'name,' on the pattern of ''homonym''.}}</ref> ''[[Webster's New World Dictionary]]'',<ref name="Websters-New-World">{{cite web |title=acronym |url= https://www.yourdictionary.com/acronym |website=Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company |access-date=January 22, 2020 |date=2014 |quote=a word formed from the first (or first few) letters of a series of words, as radar, from ''ra''dio ''d''etecting ''a''nd ''r''anging |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200405210057/https://www.yourdictionary.com/acronym |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[Lexico]]'' from Oxford University Press<ref name="Lexico">{{cite web |title=acronym |url= https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/acronym |website=Lexico |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=January 22, 2020 |quote=An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA). |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191222132554/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/acronym |archive-date=December 22, 2019 }}</ref> do not acknowledge such a sense.

Most of the dictionary entries and style guide recommendations regarding the term ''acronym'' through the twentieth century did not explicitly acknowledge or support the expansive sense. The [[Merriam–Webster's Dictionary of English Usage]] from 1994 is one of the earliest publications to advocate for the expansive sense,<ref name="MWDEU">Merriam-Webster, Inc. ''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', 1994. {{ISBN|0-87779-132-5}}. pp. 21–22:
{{blockquote|'''acronyms'''&nbsp;&nbsp;A number of commentators (as Copperud 1970, Janis 1984, Howard 1984) believe that acronyms can be differentiated from other abbreviations in being pronounceable as words. Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction because writers in general do not:
{{blockquote|"The powder metallurgy industry has officially adopted the acronym 'P/M Parts{{'"}}—''Precision Metal Molding'', January 1966.<br />"Users of the term ''acronym'' make no distinction between those pronounced as words ... and those pronounced as a series of characters" —Jean Praninskas, ''Trade Name Creation'', 1968.<br />"It is not J.C.B.'s fault that its name, let alone its acronym, is not a household word among European scholars"—''Times Literary Supp.'' 5 February 1970.<br />"...&nbsp;the confusion in the Pentagon about abbreviations and acronyms—words formed from the first letters of other words"—Bernard Weinraub, ''N.Y. Times'', 11 December 1978.}}Pyles & Algeo 1970 divide acronyms into "initialisms", which consists of initial letters pronounced with the letter names, and "word acronyms", which are pronounced as words. ''Initialism'', an older word than ''acronym'', seems to be too little known to the general public to serve as the customary term standing in contrast with ''acronym'' in a narrow sense.}}</ref> and all the major dictionary editions that include a sense of ''acronym'' equating it with ''initialism'' were first published in the twenty-first century. The trend among dictionary editors appears to be towards including a sense defining ''acronym'' as ''initialism'': the ''[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]'' added such a sense in its 11th edition in 2003,<ref name="MW10">{{Cite book |title=[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]] |date=1993 |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |isbn=0-87779-708-0 |edition=10th |location=Springfield, Massachusetts |oclc=27432416 |page=11 |quote='''ac·ro·nym''' ˈa-krə-ˌnim ''n'' [''acr-'' + ''-onym''] (1943) : a word (as ''NATO'', ''radar'', or ''snafu'') formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term— '''ac·ro·nym·ic''' ˌa-krə-ˈni-mik ''adj'' — '''ac·ro·nym·i·c·al·ly''' -mi-k(ə-)lē ''adv''}}</ref><ref name="MW11">{{Cite book |title=[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]] |date=2003 |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |isbn=0-87779-809-5 |edition=11th |location=Springfield, Massachusetts |oclc=51764057 |page=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebsters00spri/page/12 12] |via=Internet Archive |quote='''ac·ro·nym''' ˈa-krə-ˌnim ''n'' [''acr-'' + ''-onym''] (1943) : a word (such as ''NATO'', ''radar'', or ''laser'') formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term; ''also'' : an abbreviation (such as ''FBI'') formed from initial letters : {{Smallcaps|initialism}}— '''ac·ro·nym·ic''' ˌa-krə-ˈni-mik ''adj'' — '''ac·ro·nym·i·c·al·ly''' -mi-k(ə-)lē ''adv''}}</ref> and both the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''<ref name="OED1989">{{Cite web |url= https://www.oed.com/oed2/00002102 |access-date=January 28, 2020 |title=acronym |website=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |edition=3rd |date=1989 |quote=A word formed from the initial letters of other words. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190325224324/http://www.oed.com/oed2/00002102 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="OED" /> and ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary]]''<ref name="AHD4">{{Cite book |title=[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]] |date=2000 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=0-395-82517-2 |edition=4th |location=Boston |oclc=43499541 |article=acronym |page=16 |quote=ac·ro·nym (ăk'''′'''rə-nĭm′) ''n.'' A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as ''WAC'' for ''W''omen's ''A''rmy ''C''orps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as ''radar'' for ''ra''dio ''d''etecting ''a''nd ''r''anging. [{{Smallcaps|acr(o)- + -onym.}}]—ac′ro·nym'''′'''ic, a·cron'''′'''y·mous (ə-krŏn′ə-məs) ''adj.''}}</ref><ref name=AHD5 /> added such senses in their 2011 editions. The 1989 edition of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' only included the exclusive sense for ''acronym'' and its earliest citation was from 1943.<ref name="OED1989" /> In early December 2010, [[Duke University]] researcher Stephen Goranson published a citation for ''acronym'' to the [[American Dialect Society]] e-mail discussion list which refers to ''PGN'' being pronounced "pee-gee-enn", [[antedating (lexicography)|antedating]] English language usage of the word to 1940.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-December/105190.html|title=acronym antedated to 1940|last=Goranson|first=Stephen|date=2010-12-05|website=American Dialect Society E-Mail Discussion List Archive|url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200405220548/http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-December/105190.html|archive-date=April 5, 2020|access-date=March 5, 2020}}</ref> Linguist [[Ben Zimmer]] then mentioned this citation in his December 16, 2010 "[[On Language]]" column about acronyms in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Ben |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/magazine/19FOB-onlanguage-t.html |title=On Language: Acronym |date=December 16, 2010 |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |access-date=March 4, 2020 |url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200405220123/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/magazine/19FOB-onlanguage-t.html|archive-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref> By 2011, the publication of the 3rd edition of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' added the expansive sense to its entry for ''acronym'' and included the 1940 citation.<ref name="OED" /> As the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' structures the senses in order of chronological development,<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://public.oed.com/how-to-use-the-oed/glossary/#sense |title=OED terminology |website=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |edition=3rd |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200327185842/https://public.oed.com/how-to-use-the-oed/glossary/#sense|archive-date=March 27, 2020 |access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref> it now gives the "initialism" sense first.

English language usage and style guides which have entries for ''acronym'' generally criticize the usage that refers to forms that are not pronounceable words. ''[[Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage]]'' says that ''acronym'' "denotes abbreviations formed from initial letters of other words and pronounced as a single word, such as ''NATO'' (as distinct from ''B-B-C'')" but adds later "In everyday use, ''acronym'' is often applied to abbreviations that are technically initialisms, since they are pronounced as separate letters."<ref name="Fowler2015">{{cite book |last=Fowler |first=Henry Watson |author-link=H. W. Fowler |editor=Jeremy Butterfield |title=[[Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage]] |edition=4th |date=June 1, 2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-966135-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AvmzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 16] }}</ref> ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' acknowledges the complexity ("Furthermore, an acronym and initialism are occasionally combined (JPEG), and the line between initialism and acronym is not always clear") but still defines the terms as mutually exclusive.<ref name="CMOS16">{{cite book|title=The Chicago Manual of Style|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-10420-1|edition=16th|chapter=10.2 Acronyms, initialisms, contractions|year=2010|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/chicagomanualofs16edunse_2010}}</ref> Other guides outright deny any legitimacy to the usage: ''[[Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words]]'' says "Abbreviations that are not pronounced as words (IBM, ABC, NFL) are not acronyms; they are just abbreviations."<ref name="Bryson2002">{{cite book |last=Bryson |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Bryson |title=Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nwSm4UVY8uMC&pg=PT9 |date=September 17, 2002 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-7679-1047-7 |page=9 |access-date=March 11, 2020}}</ref> ''[[Garner's Modern American Usage]]'' says "An acronym is made from the first letters or parts of a compound term. It's read or spoken as a single word, not letter by letter."<ref name="Garner2009">{{cite book |last=Garner |first=Bryan |author-link=Bryan Garner |title=[[Garner's Modern American Usage]] |date=July 28, 2009 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-987462-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sd3byNeBdR4C&pg=PA2 2] }}</ref> ''[[The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage]]'' says "Unless pronounced as a word, an abbreviation is not an acronym."<ref name="SiegalConnolly2015">{{cite book |last1=Siegal |first1=Allan M. |author-link1=Allan M. Siegal |last2=Connoly |first2=William G. |author-link2=William G. Connolly |title=[[The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage]]: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative News Organization |edition=5th |date=2015 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |isbn=978-1-101-90544-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AfbaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 5] }}</ref>

In contrast, some style guides do support it, whether explicitly or implicitly. The 1994 edition of ''[[Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage]]'' defends the usage on the basis of a claim that dictionaries do not make a distinction.<ref name="MWDEU" /> The [[BuzzFeed]] style guide describes CBS and PBS as "acronyms ending in S".<ref name="BuzzFeed">{{cite web |first=Emmy |last=Favilla |date=December 27, 2019 |title=BuzzFeed Style Guide |url= https://www.buzzfeed.com/emmyf/buzzfeed-style-guide#2370665 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200405210420/https://www.buzzfeed.com/emmyf/buzzfeed-style-guide#2370665 |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |access-date=January 22, 2020 |website=BuzzFeed.com |publisher=BuzzFeed}}</ref>