acronym
An abbreviation formed by the initial letters of other words.
Other meanings
Generally such abbreviations, including those pronounced as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").
Exclusively such abbreviations when pronounced as a word (as "laser" or "NATO").
Word history
From Ancient Greek "ἄκρον" (end; peak).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “acronym” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.