An acronym is a pronounceable name made up of a series of initial letters or parts of words; for example, UNESCO for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase used in place of the whole e.g. "e.g." "i.e." "etc."

Abbreviation is a shortened version of a word. We often use them with streets like Main St. instead of Main Street. Acronyms are a set of letters that usually make up the first letter of each important word in a title or phrase. WTC = World Trade Center or NASA = National Aeronautical and Space Administration. Update: read Michaels answer and he is right. WTC is an initialism. I learn something new every day!

Whether the form is pronounced as a “word” or as letter names or as some combination of the two is a red herring. The key difference is whether the abbreviated form is pronounced differently from the expanded form. Splitting hairs, but - an acronym is where it is pronounced as a new word (eg Nato, Laser, Scuba) an initialism is where the letters are pronounced, (eg FBI, CIA), IUPAC is a bit of both

Yes Abbreviation: a shortened form of a word or phrase. Acronym:An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation from the initial components in a phrase or a word, usually individual letters (as in NATO or laser) and sometimes syllables (as in Benelux). There is no universal standardization of the various names for such abbreviations and of their orthographic styling. Acronym is like AKC American Kennel club or: Popular Acronyms These acronyms are very widely used, making them some of the most popular to appear in the English language. RADAR - Radio detecting and ranging LASER - Light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation. NATO - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. UNICEF - The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. SCUBA - Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. WASP - White anglo saxon protestant. n acronym (as the term is commonly used) is a term that is formed from the initial letters of some longer name and is pronounced differently than the expanded form. Examples of acronyms as the term is commonly used: FBI, which stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation, but is pronounced ef-bee-I NATO, which stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but is pronounced NAY-toe IUPAC, which stands for International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, but is pronounced I-U-pak An abbreviation is written differently from the expanded form but is pronounced the same. Examples: Mr., which stands for mister and is pronounced mister ft., which stands for feet and is pronounced feet etc., which stands for et cetera and is pronounced et cetera

Yes there is: An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, like "Rd." for "Road" or "Apt." for "Apartment" or "Jan" for "January". An acronym, whilst also shortening a phrase, has to spell out another word. For instance, "ASAP" for "As soon as possible." or "NASA" for "National Aeronautical and Space Administration" or (my favorite) "RADAR" for "RAdio Detection And Ranging." Hope it helps.