Three-letter_initialism
Three-letter acronym
Abbreviation consisting of three letters
A three-letter acronym (TLA), or three-letter abbreviation, is an abbreviation consisting of three letters. These are usually the initial letters of the words of the phrase abbreviated, and are written in capital letters (upper case); three-letter abbreviations such as etc. and Mrs. are not three-letter acronyms, but "TLA" itself is a TLA (an example of an autological abbreviation).
This article possibly contains original research. (August 2023) |
Most three-letter abbreviations are not, strictly, acronyms, but rather initialisms: all the letters are pronounced as the names of letters, as in APA /ˌeɪpiːˈeɪ/ AY-pee-AY. Some are true acronyms, pronounced as a word: as with computed axial tomography, for example, CAT is almost always pronounced as the animal's name (/kæt/) in "CAT scan". Even the initialisms are however considered three-letter acronyms, because that term appeared first in widespread use, and is overwhelmingly popular today.