<p>缩 in 缩写 means "to condense/ to contract" </p>

<p>Acronym and initialism are both (首字母)缩写. (contracting a phrase using the first alphabet of each word in the phrase)
聯邦調查局 (<strong>F</strong>ederal <strong>B</strong>ureau of <strong>I</strong>nvestigation) 的 (首字母)缩写 是 <strong>FBI</strong></p>

<p>中央情報局 (<strong>C</strong>entral <strong>I</strong>ntelligence <strong>A</strong>gency) 的 (首字母)缩写 是 <strong>CIA</strong></p>

<p>abbreviation is (字句)缩写 (abbreviate a phrase by omitting some part of it) ; 簡化; 簡稱 </p>

<p>Example: </p>

<ul>
<li><p>中央情報局 簡稱 中情局 (the abbreviation of 中央情報局 is 中情局)</p></li>
<li><p>美國 其實是 阿美利堅合眾國 的簡稱 (America is actually the abbreviation of United States of America)</p></li>
<li><p>阿美利堅合眾國 (<strong>U</strong>nited <strong>S</strong>tates of <strong>A</strong>merica) 的 (首字母)缩写 是 <strong>USA</strong></p></li>
</ul>

<p>The difference between acronym and initialism is,  you can read acronym as one word e.g. <strong>M</strong>others <strong>A</strong>gainst <strong>D</strong>runk-driving = MAD. But you read each alphabet in an initialism</p>

<p>Basically 缩写 is a correct translation of all three terms</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-30T03:27:52.843Z
Yes I'm aware of the meanings of the three words in English. Acronym and initialism are different in English, are you saying that they don't differentiate between the two in Chinese?
Hasen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-30T03:29:36.907Z
"Basically 缩写 is a correct translation of all three terms" That's the same as saying that 'abbreviation' is a correct description of all three terms in English though. Which is also true, they're all forms of abbreviation. But typically we use abbreviation to describe a word simply shortened. Like Application to App.
Hasen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-30T03:53:21.363Z
@Hasen Chinese doesn't use alphabet therefore we don't really use(首字母)缩写.  acronym and initialism are all the same to us. The main translation of "abbreviation" is "簡稱" (simplified name). But most Chinese would call (首字母)缩写  as  "簡稱" too. For example, the correct statement should be "CIA 是 中央情報局的缩写" , but people don't care if you say "CIA 是 中央情報局的簡稱"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-30T04:01:40.360Z
Similarly, the correct statement should be "中央情報局 的 簡稱 是 中情局", but Chinese often say "中央情報局 的 缩写 是 中情局"
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-31T05:16:12.893Z
"Chinese doesn't use alphabet" That's not correct at all. If it were, then none of these terms would exist. Chinese use the letters of the alphabet all over the place in fact, even though it's not strictly part of their language historically, it is a part of the modern language. And of course Chinese use the alphabet to refer to things like DVDs and such. I find Chinese and their language doesn't like to make distinctions between things (e.g. they use 羊 to refer to both goat and sheep) so it wouldn't surprise me if they did use 缩写 for everything. But for me I wanted to know what was correct.
Hasen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-31T05:23:17.650Z
@Hasen Chinese language really doesn't have  alphabets. We use characters. When you see English in Chinese sentence--Those English parts are still English,
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-01T07:02:56.457Z
Actually they do use letters even in words that are not English at all. Like B超 for example. Building numbers, building departments etc also often use letters so you see them in addresses and such. But even the words that _do_ come from English like DVD etc are in common use in China, - since there's no other word for DVD in China, that's the word they use, so they still need a way of describing these types of words. Just like western punctuation was also not a part of ancient Chinese, but in recent years, full stops, question marks etc were introduced and are now part of modern Chines too.
Hasen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-01T07:27:43.220Z
You are confusing "mixing English elements in Chinese" with "treat English elements  as Chinese.  "看DVD" is Chinese mixing with English, "看電影光碟" is pure Chinese; "叫 Taxi" is Chinese mixing with English; 打的 is pure Chinese even 的 originally came from Taxi
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-02T17:49:38.343Z
電影光碟 could be a VCD, it definitely doesn't specifically mean DVD. Chinese use the word DVD. I studied Chinese in China and DVD was used even in official Beijing Chinese language teaching materials, both written and audible. Also anyone you meet in China uses the word DVD. It's not unique to Chinese anyway, many languages contain English words, and equally for example English contains many French words. Even acronyms that aren't in common use in China, like USA, FBI, NASA etc, STILL require a way to refer to these types of words...hence my original question.
Hasen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-28T21:12:57.770Z
2019-08-30T03:59:08.650Z
2019-08-30T03:59:08.650Z
Tang Ho
<p>Here are Wikipedia's translations along with links to the correct articles.</p>

<p><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E9%A6%96%E5%AD%97%E6%AF%8D%E7%B8%AE%E7%95%A5%E5%AD%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Acronym = 首字母缩略字</a> -or- <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">首字母缩略词</a></p>

<p><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Initialisms = 字母词</a></p>

<p><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">abbreviation = 缩写</a> -or- <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">省略</a> -or- <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">缩略语</a> -or- <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">缩写词</a></p>

<p>Colloquially though these would probably all just be referred to as some type of 缩写. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-30T03:34:04.327Z
I've not come across 字母词 and had trouble finding it in the dictionary but it seems it may indeed be initialism. I also came across another word 首字母拚音词 which seems to mean acronym? Interesting.
Hasen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-30T04:16:38.167Z
字母词 can be found in quite a few dictionaries, ABC, CC-CEDICT, 规范 and 两岸 for instance all list it. 规范 also gives WTO as an example. It seems to also refer to Chinese words with Roman letters in them also.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-31T05:19:31.163Z
Ok I see. It wasn't in the Bing.cn dictionary which is the largest Chinese dictionary in the world. Well it is there, but no example sentences so it made me wonder about that. Good that it's in other dictionaries at least though. Like I was saying in another comment, Chinese typically don't make distinctions between things that are relatively similar so I wouldn't be surprised if these words are not in general use...hence not in every dictionary.
Hasen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-29T02:14:21.197Z
2019-08-29T02:14:21.197Z
Mou某
<p>Looking up these three words it's not clear which is which and often 缩写 seems to be used in most cases I've come across, which doesn't seem to be correct. </p>

<p>Can someone confirm what are the equivalents in Chinese for these three words:</p>

<p><code>acronym; initialism; abbreviation</code>?</p>

<meaning>
Words for acronym, initialism and abbreviation
# Words for acronym, initialism and abbreviation

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-28)

Looking up these three words it's not clear which is which and often 缩写 seems to be used in most cases I've come across, which doesn't seem to be correct.

Can someone confirm what are the equivalents in Chinese for these three words:

`acronym; initialism; abbreviation`?

**Tags:** meaning


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-08-28. Score: 1

缩 in 缩写 means "to condense/ to contract"

Acronym and initialism are both (首字母)缩写. (contracting a phrase using the first alphabet of each word in the phrase)
聯邦調查局 (**F**ederal **B**ureau of **I**nvestigation) 的 (首字母)缩写 是 **FBI**

中央情報局 (**C**entral **I**ntelligence **A**gency) 的 (首字母)缩写 是 **CIA**

abbreviation is (字句)缩写 (abbreviate a phrase by omitting some part of it) ; 簡化; 簡稱

Example:

* 中央情報局 簡稱 中情局 (the abbreviation of 中央情報局 is 中情局)
* 美國 其實是 阿美利堅合眾國 的簡稱 (America is actually the abbreviation of United States of America)
* 阿美利堅合眾國 (**U**nited **S**tates of **A**merica) 的 (首字母)缩写 是 **USA**

The difference between acronym and initialism is, you can read acronym as one word e.g. **M**others **A**gainst **D**runk-driving = MAD. But you read each alphabet in an initialism

Basically 缩写 is a correct translation of all three terms

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes I'm aware of the meanings of the three words in English. Acronym and initialism are different in English, are you saying that they don't differentiate between the two in Chinese?  
> **username_0**: "Basically 缩写 is a correct translation of all three terms" That's the same as saying that 'abbreviation' is a correct description of all three terms in English though. Which is also true, they're all forms of abbreviation. But typically we use abbreviation to describe a word simply shortened. Like Application to App.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Chinese doesn't use alphabet therefore we don't really use(首字母)缩写.  acronym and initialism are all the same to us. The main translation of "abbreviation" is "簡稱" (simplified name). But most Chinese would call (首字母)缩写  as  "簡稱" too. For example, the correct statement should be "CIA 是 中央情報局的缩写" , but people don't care if you say "CIA 是 中央情報局的簡稱"  
> **username_1**: Similarly, the correct statement should be "中央情報局 的 簡稱 是 中情局", but Chinese often say "中央情報局 的 缩写 是 中情局"  
> **username_0**: "Chinese doesn't use alphabet" That's not correct at all. If it were, then none of these terms would exist. Chinese use the letters of the alphabet all over the place in fact, even though it's not strictly part of their language historically, it is a part of the modern language. And of course Chinese use the alphabet to refer to things like DVDs and such. I find Chinese and their language doesn't like to make distinctions between things (e.g. they use 羊 to refer to both goat and sheep) so it wouldn't surprise me if they did use 缩写 for everything. But for me I wanted to know what was correct.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 Chinese language really doesn't have  alphabets. We use characters. When you see English in Chinese sentence--Those English parts are still English,  
> **username_0**: Actually they do use letters even in words that are not English at all. Like B超 for example. Building numbers, building departments etc also often use letters so you see them in addresses and such. But even the words that _do_ come from English like DVD etc are in common use in China, - since there's no other word for DVD in China, that's the word they use, so they still need a way of describing these types of words. Just like western punctuation was also not a part of ancient Chinese, but in recent years, full stops, question marks etc were introduced and are now part of modern Chines too.  
> **username_1**: You are confusing "mixing English elements in Chinese" with "treat English elements  as Chinese.  "看DVD" is Chinese mixing with English, "看電影光碟" is pure Chinese; "叫 Taxi" is Chinese mixing with English; 打的 is pure Chinese even 的 originally came from Taxi  
> **username_0**: 電影光碟 could be a VCD, it definitely doesn't specifically mean DVD. Chinese use the word DVD. I studied Chinese in China and DVD was used even in official Beijing Chinese language teaching materials, both written and audible. Also anyone you meet in China uses the word DVD. It's not unique to Chinese anyway, many languages contain English words, and equally for example English contains many French words. Even acronyms that aren't in common use in China, like USA, FBI, NASA etc, STILL require a way to refer to these types of words...hence my original question.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-08-29. Score: 0

Here are Wikipedia's translations along with links to the correct articles.

[Acronym = 首字母缩略字](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E9%A6%96%E5%AD%97%E6%AF%8D%E7%B8%AE%E7%95%A5%E5%AD%97) -or- [首字母缩略词](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB)

[Initialisms = 字母词](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB)

[abbreviation = 缩写](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB) -or- [省略](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB) -or- [缩略语](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB) -or- [缩写词](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%B8%AE%E5%AF%AB)

Colloquially though these would probably all just be referred to as some type of 缩写.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I've not come across 字母词 and had trouble finding it in the dictionary but it seems it may indeed be initialism. I also came across another word 首字母拚音词 which seems to mean acronym? Interesting.  
> **username_2**: 字母词 can be found in quite a few dictionaries, ABC, CC-CEDICT, 规范 and 两岸 for instance all list it. 规范 also gives WTO as an example. It seems to also refer to Chinese words with Roman letters in them also.  
> **username_0**: Ok I see. It wasn't in the Bing.cn dictionary which is the largest Chinese dictionary in the world. Well it is there, but no example sentences so it made me wonder about that. Good that it's in other dictionaries at least though. Like I was saying in another comment, Chinese typically don't make distinctions between things that are relatively similar so I wouldn't be surprised if these words are not in general use...hence not in every dictionary.  

---

