backronym

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back·ro·nym

(băk′rə-nĭm′)

1. An acronym coined by constructing a phrase from words whose initial letters spell an existing word or name. For example, wiki is a backronym when it is described as standing for what I know is because wiki is a previously existing word whose original meaning is "collaborative website."

2. The phrase whose initial letters spell out such a word.

[Blend of back and acronym.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

backronym

The result of taking an existing word (which is not an acronym) or an existing acronym and using each letter of that word or acronym as the initial letter of the words in a new phrase or sentence. In other words changing the meaning of an existing acronym by making it stand for something else or treating a real word as if it were an acronym.

Translations

rétroacronyme

References in periodicals archive ?

The name, originally a shortened form of 'British', subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trusts Show.

Brit Awards 2019: Drake, The Carters, Ariana Grande, Others Emerge Winners

The backronym appears to have been coined by Kelly Johnson, an aeronautical innovator at Lockheed who helped design over 40 aircrafts.

Working on an idea? KISS: The keep-it-simple-stupid principle works wonders in business

"Insight," the much simpler backronym it's known by, is designed specifically to understand the structure of Mars's deep interior.

Mars: The INSIDE Story: With the arrival of NASA's Insight lander, geophysicists hope to learn what goes on deep in the Red Planet's interior

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