Difference Between Abbreviations and Acronyms

We’ll go over what abbreviations and acronyms are, plus provide examples and a short quote that can help you remember their difference.

If you’re wondering what the difference is between an abbreviation and an acronym, you’re not alone. Before we dive into what these two are, we’ll give you this epigram:

All acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms.

What Is an Abbreviation?

Abbreviation is the umbrella term for a handful of different types of shortened words and phrases like acronyms and initialisms, which we’ll elaborate on later.

There are a few ways abbreviations can be made: you can use only the first few letters, and omit the rest, like in cont. instead of continued or Dec. instead of December. Sometimes the middle of the word is omitted instead, like when using Mr. in place of mister. What you may have noticed with these examples is that even though the word is shortened, there’s no change in how it’s pronounced.

A few more examples of abbreviations are:

What Is an Acronym?

An acronym is a shortened form of a phrase. It’s formed by using the first letters of the words that make up the phrase. Consider the following examples:

With acronyms, the shortened phrase creates a new word. In other words, the letters aren’t pronounced individually but are pronounced as a whole.

Try LanguageTool ASAP

Abbreviations are a major part of the English language, especially considering all the ones used for “internet lingo.” Remember, because abbreviation is an umbrella term, you wouldn’t technically be wrong to say that words like PIN and laser are abbreviations.

But if you want to be as precise as possible, keep in mind that the difference between abbreviations and acronyms is that abbreviations are considered shortened forms of a word; acronyms are shortened forms of a phrase that make up a new word.