Princeton's WordNet

1. abbreviation(noun)

   a shortened form of a word or phrase

2. abbreviation(noun)

   shortening something by omitting parts of it

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

1. abbreviation(noun)əˌbri viˈeɪ ʃən

   a short form of a word

   the abbreviation of sth

Wiktionary

1. abbreviation(Noun)

   A shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole: Dr.

2. abbreviation(Noun)

   The act or result of shortening or reducing.

3. abbreviation(Noun)

   One or more dashes through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, demisemiquavers, or hemidemisemiquavers.

4. abbreviation(Noun)

   A notation used in music score to denote a direction, as pp or mf.

5. abbreviation(Noun)

   Any convenient spoken or written short form for an understood or inferred whole.

6. abbreviation(Noun)

   Reduction to lower terms, as a fraction.

7. abbreviation(Noun)

   Loss during evolution of the final stages of the ancestral ontogenetic pattern.

Origin: * First attested 1400–50.

Webster Dictionary

1. Abbreviation(noun)

   the act of shortening, or reducing

2. Abbreviation(noun)

   the result of abbreviating; an abridgment

3. Abbreviation(noun)

   the form to which a word or phrase is reduced by contraction and omission; a letter or letters, standing for a word or phrase of which they are a part; as, Gen. for Genesis; U.S.A. for United States of America

4. Abbreviation(noun)

   one dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers

• afkortingAfrikaans
• إخْتِصَارArabic
• съкращениеBulgarian
• abreviaturaPortuguese (BR)
• zkratkaCzech
• die AbkürzungGerman
• forkortelseDanish
• σύντμηση, συντομογραφίαGreek
• abreviaturaSpanish
• lühendEstonian
• مخففFarsi
• lyhenneFinnish
• abréviationFrench
• קִצוּר ,קִיצוּרHebrew
• संक्षिप्तिHindi
• kraticaCroatian
• rövidítésHungarian
• singkatanIndonesian
• styttingIcelandic
• abbreviazioneItalian
• 省略形Japanese
• 약어Korean
• santrumpaLithuanian
• saīsinājumsLatvian
• singkatanMalay
• afkortingDutch
• forkortelseNorwegian
• skrótPolish
• مخففPersian
• مخففPashto
• abreviaturaPortuguese
• abreviere; prescurtareRomanian
• сокращениеRussian
• skratkaSlovak
• okrajšavaSlovenian
• skraćenicaSerbian
• förkortningSwedish
• คำย่อThai
• kısaltmaTurkish
• 縮寫Chinese (Trad.)
• абревіатура, скороченняUkrainian
• مختصر الفاظUrdu
• chữ viết tắtVietnamese
• 缩写式Chinese (Simp.)