Etymology

pseudo-acronym

pseu·do-ac·ro·nym

Today it means: A term that is seemingly an acronym or (loosely) an initialism, but the letters of which do not stand for specific words. Full definition →

English acronym ← German Akronym ← Ancient Greek ἄκρος (ákros)
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekψεύδω (pseúdō)
  2. Ancient Greekψευδής (pseudḗs)
  3. Middle Englishpseudo-
  4. Englishpseudo-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱrós
  7. Proto-Hellenic[Term?]
  8. Ancient Greekἄκρος (ákros)
  9. Germanakro-
  10. GermanAkronym
  11. Englishacronym
  12. English todaypseudo-acronym

From pseudo- (prefix meaning ‘not genuine, false’) + acronym.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.