Definition:
The first letter of a word or name or of each word in a phrase. See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "beginning"Examples:
- "Most style manuals call for spacing between initials in a personal name: A. B. Cherry (not A.B. Cherry). There are no spaces, however, between personal initials that are not followed by periods (FDR, LBJ)."
(Amy Einsohn, The Copyeditor's Handbook, Univ. of California Press, 2005) - "Take the League of Women Voters. The group was founded in 1920 during a convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, held only six months before the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote. . . .
"[T]hose at the state level say that some League officers would like to follow the lead of the AARP, now more recognized for its initials than for the stodgier and sometimes misleading name, the American Association of Retired Persons. The AARP made the change partly because so many of its members, who are as young as 50, are still working. 'We are working hard to put out the logo, LWV,' said Martha Kennedy, state membership chairwoman."
(Kate Stone Lombardi, "Traditional Women's Groups Are Neither," The New York Times, Dec. 7, 2003) - "In 1985, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network became just ESPN, with no reference to the original meaning. . . . TNN was once the Nashville Network, then became the National Network when it deep-sixed its hootenanny programming."
(Seth Stevenson, "Alphabet Soup: Now What Does KFC Stand for?" Slate, May 3, 2004) - "GM's Car Czar Must Think Company Initials Stand for 'General Malaise'"
(title of an article by Laurie David in The Huffington Post, January 2, 2007)
