abbreviation

Everyday

1. A short form of a word or phrase: "Mon" is an abbreviation of "Monday". tree →
2. A set of letters standing for a longer name, like UK for United Kingdom or km for kilometre. tree →
3. The act of making something shorter. tree →

In the lessons

In maths and science abbreviations are everywhere: cm, kg, ml, km/h, and units must be written correctly. In English lessons pupils learn abbreviations for days and months and in texting (lol, btw). In everyday life signs and forms use them (St for Street, Dr for Doctor). Phrases: an abbreviation for, an abbreviation of, a common abbreviation.

Examples

• "km" is the abbreviation for kilometre. tree →
• "Dr" is an abbreviation of "Doctor". tree →
• Write the abbreviations for the days of the week. tree →
• "Aug" is a short form of August. tree →
• Texts are full of abbreviations like "btw" and "omg". tree →
• In science, "ml" stands for millilitre. tree →
• The abbreviation UN means the United Nations. tree →
• Regularly used abbreviations (for example, "Grimm, KM." or "P.V.S.") have been made consistent throughout, without note. tree →

Note

Countable: an abbreviation (starts with a vowel sound, so "an"). An acronym is a kind of abbreviation said as a word (NASA). Unit abbreviations have no "s" for plural: 5 km, not 5 kms. In maths, mixing up abbreviations (m for metres, mm for millimetres) changes numbers by 1,000 times.