Abbreviations and acronyms are both ways to shorten words or phrases, but they differ in their formation and usage:
Abbreviations
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. It can be made up of just the initial letters of words, or it might involve taking parts of the word. Abbreviations can be pronounced as individual letters or can be pronounced as a word. Examples include:
- Dr. for "Doctor"
- approx. for "approximately"
- etc. for "et cetera"
Acronyms
An acronym is a specific type of abbreviation that is formed from the initial letters of a series of words and is pronounced as a single word. For example:
- NASA for "National Aeronautics and Space Administration"
- RADAR for "Radio Detection and Ranging"
- SCUBA for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus"
In summary, while all acronyms are abbreviations, not all abbreviations are acronyms. The key difference lies in how they are created and pronounced.