An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters, or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word abbreviation can itself be represented by the abbreviation abbr., abbrv., or abbrev.
There are four different types of abbreviations in English:
- Initialism,
- Acronym,
- Shortening,
- Contraction.
