acronym
ac·ro·nym/ˈækɹəˌnɪm/noun, verb
acronym is spelled A-C-R-O-N-Y-M: 7 letters and 3 syllables (ac·ro·nym). It appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, acronym means “Generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT")” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of acronym is acronyms.
How many letters and syllables are in acronym?
| Letters | 7: A-C-R-O-N-Y-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ac·ro·nym |
| In writing | 2.4 times per million words; the 17,587th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is acronym?
Acronym appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce acronym?
- UK /ˈækɹənɪm/
- US /ˈækɹəˌnɪm/
- /ˈɛkɹənəm/
Acronym has 3 syllables, split ac·ro·nym in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-acronym.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of acronym
- acronyms plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- acronyming participle, present
- acronymming participle, present, rare
- acronymed participle, past
- acronymmed participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does acronym mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").
- 2
Exclusively such abbreviations when pronounced as a word (as "laser" or "NATO").
- 3
An abbreviation formed by the beginning letters or syllables of other words; this sense includes syllabic abbreviations such as Benelux and satnav.
verb
- 1
To form into an acronym.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate acronym?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of acronym: a..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Acronym in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sigle , acronyme |
| Portuguese | sigla, acrônimo , acrograma, acrónimo |
| Spanish | sigla , acrónimo |
| German | Akronym |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does acronym come from?
Borrowed from German Akronym (from Ancient Greek ἄκρον (ákron, “end; peak”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”)), modelled after Homonym and Synonym, first attested in German in the early 1900s and in English in 1940. By surface analysis, acro- (prefix meaning ‘beginning; high’) + -onym (suffix meaning ‘name’)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).