the act of shortening, or reducing.-the result of abbreviating; an abridgment.-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.-one dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers, or demi-semiquavers.