[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

abbreviate \abbre"viate\ a^bbr=e"vi^=at, v. t.
   imp.  p. p. abbreviated; p. pr.  vb. n. abbreviating.
   l. abbreviatus, p. p. of abbreviare; ad + breviare to
   shorten, fr. brevis short. see abridge.
   1. to make briefer; to shorten; to abridge; to reduce by
      contraction or omission, especially of words written or
      spoken.
      1913 webster

            it is one thing to abbreviate by contracting,
            another by cutting off.               --bacon.
      1913 webster

   2. math. to reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.
      1913 webster
see also:
abbreviated abbreviating abridge 

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