anacronym

Meaning

Noun

• An acronym whose etymonic origin is either not known to, or irrelevant to and forgotten by, most speakers; the word therefore stands on its own with identity as a full-fledged word and not solely an acronym despite acronymic etymology, and (in the strongest cases, including laser, radar, sonar, lidar, and scuba) usually takes lowercased styling (because to capitalize it would represent undue emphasis on its etymonic origin).

Origin

• Perhaps but perhaps an- + acronym, in either case indicating an acronymic word that has lost much of its acronymic identity because people usually no longer focus on the etymonic origin when using the word.