English▸ noun a shortened form of a word or phrase:
the chemical symbol Ag is an abbreviation of the Latin word for silver, argentum
use simple words and no abbreviations.
▪ [mass noun] the process of abbreviating something:
nursing records must be written without abbreviation.
– ORIGIN late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French abreviation, from ecclesiastical Latin abbreviatio(n-), from the verb abbreviare (see abbreviate).