1 definition found From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]: Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\, verb (used with an object) [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. It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off. --Bacon. 2. (Math.) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.

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