abbreviate

Either from Middle English abbreviaten, from Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō (“to shorten”), formed from ad + breviō (“shorten”), from brevis (“short”) or back-formation from abbreviation.[1] See also abridge.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə.ˈbɹiː.vi.eɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/

• Audio (US)

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abbreviate (third-person singular simple present abbreviates, present participle abbreviating, simple past and past participle abbreviated)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To shorten by omitting parts or details. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17^th century.][2]
   • 1597, Francis Bacon, Essays:

     It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off.

2. (obsolete, intransitive) To speak or write in a brief manner. [Attested from the late 16^th century until the early 17^th century.][2]
3. (transitive) To make shorter; to shorten (in time); to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
4. (transitive) To reduce a word or phrase by means of contraction or omission to a shorter recognizable form. [First attested in the late 16^th century.][2]
5. (transitive, mathematics) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.

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

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

• abbreviation
• abbreviator

• From Late Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō (“abbreviate”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.ət/, /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/

abbreviate (comparative more abbreviate, superlative most abbreviate)

1. (obsolete) Abbreviated; abridged; shortened. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17^th century][2]
   • 1892, J. J. Earle, The philology of the English tongue:

     The abbreviate form has never been able to recover that shock.

2. (biology) Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type. [First attested in the mid 19^th century.][2]

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/

abbreviate (plural abbreviates)

1. (obsolete) An abridgment. [Mid 16^th century.][2]

abbreviate (comparative plus abbreviate, superlative le plus abbreviate)

1. Being abbreviated.

abbreviate

1. second-person plural present of abbreviare
2. second-person plural imperative of abbreviare

• abbeverati

abbreviāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of abbreviō

• IPA^(key): /əˈbriːvɪət/

abbreviate (plural abbreviates)

1. (law) an abstract, an abridgement

• Used in adjudication and sequestration.