Definition of "abbreviate" in English

verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To shorten by omitting parts or details.

2. (obsolete, intransitive) To speak or write in a brief manner.

3. (transitive) To make shorter; to shorten (in time); to abridge; to shorten by ending sooner than planned.

4. (transitive) To reduce a word or phrase by means of contraction or omission to a shorter recognizable form.

   • Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is more commonly known by its abbreviated form BSE.

5. (transitive, mathematics) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.

adjective

1. (obsolete, as a participle) Abbreviated.

2. (obsolete, as a participial adjective) Abbreviated, abridged, shortened.

3. (biology) Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type.

noun

1. (obsolete, Scotland) An abridgment.