acronym
The origin and history of acronym.
Etymology
Borrowed from German Akronym, built from Greek akron ("tip, end") and onyma ("name"), on the model of "homonym" and "synonym." First used in the early 1900s in German and by 1940 in English.
Class of 1940
acronym first entered the language around 1940. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1940 →