English
acronym
Acronym comes from German Akronym.
- Germanc. 1650–presentAkronym
- Englishearliest quotation 1940acronym
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Germanc. 1650–presentAkronym
- Englishearliest quotation 1940acronym
Earliest quotation: 1940, L. Feuchtwanger, Paris Gazette: “Pee-gee-enn. It's an acronym, that's what it is. That's…”
A compound of ἄκρον ‘end’ + ὄνυμα ‘name’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós ‘sharp’
Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́κρος ‘topmost, outmost, inmost’
Ancient Greek ἄκρον ‘end’
first attested Borrowed from German Akronym (from Ancient Greek ἄκρον (ákron, “end; peak”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”)), modelled after Homonym and Synonym, first attested in German in the early 1900s and in English in 1940 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
Borrowed from German Akronym (from Ancient Greek ἄκρον (ákron, “end; peak”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”)), modelled after Homonym and Synonym, first attested in German in the early 1900s and in English in 1940.
Every English word from German Akronym
Today it means
noun Generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / German Akronym / acronym