English

Etymology

Latin abbreviatus, past participle of abbreviare; ad + breviare to shorten, from brevis short. See Abridge.

Transitive verb

Imperfect and past participle: Abbreviated
Present participle: Abbreviating

1. To make briefer ; to shorten; to abridge; to reduce by contraction or omission, especially of words written or spoken.

   Quotations

   • It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off. - Bacon

2. (Mathematics): To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.

Derived terms

• abbreviation

Adjective

1. (Rare): Abbreviated; abridged ; shortened .

   Quotations

   • The abbreviate form. - Earle

2. (Biology): Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type.

Noun

1. (Obsolete): An abridgment. - Elyot

Translations

• Chinese: 为了缩写
• Dutch: afkorten
• Dansk : forkorte
• Ekspreso: abrevier , akurter
• French: abréger
• German: abkürzen
• Greek: συντομέυω
• Interlingua: abbreviar
• Italian: abbreviare
• Norwegian: forkorte
• Portuguese: abreviar
• Spanish: abreviar
• Swedish: förkorta (1,2)

Interlingua word

adjective

1. being abbreviated

Translations

• Ekspreso: abrevied
• French: abrégé
• Italian: abbreviato
• Spanish: abreviado
• Portuguese: abreviado
• German: abgekürzt