D defs.my
Entry 4 senses Webster, 1913

Abbreviation

/əb-rēvˌ-ē-āsh'-ən/ · Ab·bre·vi·a·tion · IPA /əˌbɹi.viˈeɪ.ʃn̩/
01 n. The act of shortening, or reducing.
  1. 1.
    The act of shortening, or reducing.
  2. 2.
    The result of abbreviating; an abridgment.
  3. 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. 4.
    One dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers.(Mus.)