Category:Abbreviate

Ab*bre"vi*ate, v.t. [imp. & p.p. Abbreviated; p.pr. & vb.n. Abbreviating.] Etym: [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.)

Defn: To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.

ABBREVIATE Ab*bre"vi*ate, a. Etym: [L. abbreviatus, p.p.]

1. Abbreviated; abridged; shortened. [R.] "The abbreviate form." Earle.

2. (Biol.)

Defn: Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type.

ABBREVIATE Ab*bre"vi*ate, n.

Defn: An abridgment. [Obs.] Elyot.