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Abbreviation vs Acronym vs Initialism

An abbreviation is a shortened word form of a word or phrase that cannot be pronounced as another word (Dept., Prof. Mgr., etc.). (see also Latin Abbreviations )

An acronym is a group of initials that can be pronounced as a word (radar, scuba, sonar, etc).

An initialism is a group of initials that cannot be pronounced as a word (FBI, HTML, IRA, etc.).