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An acronym is a pronounceable word formed from the first letter (or first few letters) of each word in a phrase or title. The newly combined letters create a new word that becomes a part of everyday language. Using shortened forms of words or phrases can speed up communication.

Example ASAP - As Soon As Possible POTUS - President Of The United States

Walid Alfaid
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  • Lbs is not an acronym. Isn't it from libras? And many acronyms do not become pronounceable words: NYC subway lines of IRT, IND, and BMT are said as letters (I R T). – Yosef Baskin Sep 02 '21 at 12:07
  • Yes, it's from libras. You should enter that as an answer. As for the rest, some people say that it's only an acronym if it is a pronounceable word, while things like BMT are initialisms. https://abbreviations.yourdictionary.com/reference/abbreviations/what-is-an-initialism.html – Pete Sep 02 '21 at 12:20
  • Although, I have heard people pronouncing LBS as el-bees. Not often, but occasionally. John said, "Well, I've lost a few el-bees since I gave up desserts!" – rhetorician Sep 02 '21 at 13:15
  • The abbreviation lbs would not normally be considered as either an acronym or an initialism, both of which conventionally require contributory letters from more than one word in the expansion (see eg M-W). – Edwin Ashworth Sep 02 '21 at 13:29
  • @rhetorician there is a song D-I-V-O-R-C-E too but that doesn't mean it is usually spelled out. People might say anything by spelling in rare moments. – Weather Vane Sep 02 '21 at 15:46
  • It's an abbreviation like 'Mr' and, originally, 'Mrs'. The fact that no one calls married women "mistress" any more and very rarely even writes the title as "missus" doesn't stop Mrs being an abbreviation. "Lbs" is a similar historical abbreviation. – BoldBen Sep 03 '21 at 05:27

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Lb is neither pronounceable nor an acronym. It is an old abbreviation derived from the Latin libra, meaning both 'scales' (as in the Zodiac sign) and a unit of weight.

Kate Bunting
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  • What do you mean it's not pronounceable? Surely it rhymes with sounds and frowns, no? Otherwise it's like saying that & and ÷ and € and £ are all also unpronounceabl,, which I for one would find odd. (Sorry if that comes off as a strawman. It wasn't meant to be.) – tchrist Sep 02 '21 at 22:36
  • @tchrist Of course it is read as 'pound', but the letters are not pronounceable in the same way as the examples given by the OP such as POTUS. – Kate Bunting Sep 03 '21 at 08:19