Definition of initialism

Our definition of initialism: A brand name formed from the initial letters of a longer name or phrase and pronounced letter by letter.

Often contrasted with

• Acronym: A brand name formed from the initial letters (or groups of letters) of a longer name or phrase and pronounced as a word.

Other definitions of initialism from around the web

“A group of initial letters used as an abbreviation for a name or expression, each letter being pronounced separately.” – The Financial Brand

“A set of initials representing a name, organization, or the like, with each letter pronounced separately.” – Dictionary.com

“An abbreviated version of a brand’s name formed by the first letter of each word in its name. Its appearance is identical to an acronym, but differs in that it’s pronounced letter by letter, rather than as a spoken word.” – OVO

Examples of initialism brand names

• AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph)
• CNN (Cable News Network)
• IBM (International Business Machines)
• KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
• PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers)
• HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)

Examples of acronym brand names

• ASICS (Anima Sana In Corpore Sano; Latin, “A Sound Mind in a Sound Body”)
• Fiat (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino; Italian, “Italian Automobile Factory, Turin”)
• GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company)
• Nabisco (National Biscuit Company)
• NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
• Qantas (Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services)

Also known as

• Alphabetism

Additional thoughts

While it’s easy to define initialism and acronym, these name types are difficult to classify on the approach-and-construct chart. They’re often based on descriptive names—”IBM,” for example, stands for “International Business Machines.” But for audiences who aren’t familiar with these legacy, descriptive names (e.g., younger generations), names like “IBM” might as well be abstract or meaningless. Similarly, abbreviated names are typically not real words (an acronym like “Fiat” is an exception), making it hard to assign them to one of the three standard naming constructs—real-word, compound, or coined.

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