Abbreviation

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The act of shortening, or reducing.

2. The result of abbreviating; an abridgment. Tylor.

3. 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. One dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers. Moore.