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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|