abbreviate

== English == === Etymology 1 === From Middle English abbreviaten, from abbreviat(e) (“abbreviated”, used as the participle of abbreviaten) +‎ -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin abbreviātus, perfect passive participle of abbreviō (“to shorten”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), formed from ab- + breviō (“to shorten”), from brevis (“short”). Alternatively, a back-formation from abbreviation. Doublet of abridge. ==== Pronunciation ==== (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈbɹiː.vi.eɪt/ (General American) IPA(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/ ==== Verb ==== abbreviate (third-person singular simple present abbreviates, present participle abbreviating, simple past and past participle abbreviated) (obsolete, transitive) To shorten by omitting parts or details. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century.] (obsolete, intransitive) To speak or write in a brief manner. [Attested from the late 16th century until the early 17th century.] (transitive) To make shorter; to shorten (in time); to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).] (transitive) To reduce a word or phrase by means of contraction or omission to a shorter recognizable form. [First attested in the late 16th century.] (transitive, mathematics) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction. Synonym: simplify ===== Synonyms ===== ===== Antonyms ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English abbreviat(e) (“abbreviated”, used as the past participle of abbreviaten); the noun is derived by subtsantivization from the adjective. See -ate (adjective forming suffix), -ate (noun forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Participial usage up until Early Modern English. ==== Pronunciation ==== (adjective) (General American) IPA(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.ət/, /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/ (noun) (US) IPA(key): /əˈbɹi.vi.eɪt/ (Scotland) IPA(key): /əˈbriviet/ ==== Adjective ==== abbreviate (comparative more abbreviate, superlative most abbreviate) (obsolete, as a participle) Abbreviated. (obsolete, as a participial adjective) Abbreviated, abridged, shortened. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century] (biology) Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type. [First attested in the mid 19th century.] ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== abbreviate (plural abbreviates) (obsolete, Scotland) An abridgment. [Mid 16th century.] ===== Translations ===== === References === == Interlingua == === Adjective === abbreviate (comparative plus abbreviate, superlative le plus abbreviate) Being abbreviated. == Italian == === Verb === abbreviate inflection of abbreviare: second-person plural present indicative second-person plural imperative === Anagrams === abbeverati == Latin == === Verb === abbreviāte second-person plural present active imperative of abbreviō