Ab*bre`vi*a"tion (&?;), n. [LL. abbreviatio: cf. F. abbréviation.]
1.
The act of shortening, or reducing.
2. The result of abbreviating; an abridgment.
Tylor.
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. (Mus.) One dash, or more,
through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers. Moore.
Hear it pronounced