Hypertext Webster Gateway: "abbreviate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Abbreviated};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Abbreviating}.] [L. abbreviatus, p. p. of
abbreviare; ad + breviare to shorten, fr. brevis short. See
{Abridge}.]
1. To make briefer; to shorten; to abridge; to reduce by
contraction or omission, especially of words written or
spoken.
It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting,
another by cutting off. --Bacon.
2. (Math.) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\, a. [L. abbreviatus, p. p.]
1. Abbreviated; abridged; shortened. [R.] ``The abbreviate
form.'' --Earle.
2. (Biol.) Having one part relatively shorter than another or
than the ordinary type.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\, n.
An abridgment. [Obs.] --Elyot.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
abbreviate
v 1: shorten, as of words; "Abbreviate `New York' and write
`NY'."
2: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The
manuscript must be shortened" [syn: {abridge}, {foreshorten},
{shorten}, {cut}, {contract}, {reduce}]
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