abbreviate

Meanings

Verb

• To shorten by omitting parts or details.
• To speak or write in a brief manner.
• To make shorter; to shorten (in time); to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned.
• To reduce a word or phrase by means of contraction or omission to a shorter recognizable form.
• To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.

Adjective

• Abbreviated; abridged; shortened.
• Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type.

Noun

• An abridgment.

Related

Similar words

• abridge
• compress
• condense
• contract
• curtail
• epitomize
• reduce
• shorten

Opposite words

• amplify
• dilate
• elongate
• enlarge
• expand
• expatiate
• extend
• lengthen
• produce
• prolong
• stretch

Origin

• Either from Middle English abbreviaten, from Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō, formed from ad + breviō, from brevis or . abridge.
• From Late Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō.