Difference : Abbrevation Vs Acronym

Friends,

Can you tell me the difference between Abbrevation and Acronym?

I hardly find any difference.

So, is FBI an abbrevation?

Are they correct?
1) Acronyms - AIDS, etc
2) Abbrevatios - CBI, WHO, etc

Can you give me some more examples for both, so that I can understand them better.

Thanks.

Hi everyone,
An acronym is defined as initials that we pronounce as a word, so I don't know why FBI would be in an acronym dictionary.

An abbreviation is a shortened word. Federal for example, could be shortened to Fed. or even to just F, so abbreviations can certainly just consist of initials.

Examples of abbreviations: MP, USA, RCMP, CIA, the UN, USSR, BBC, BA, IQ

Examples of acronyms: NATO, UNESCO, AIDS,
Sometimes the acronym eventually becomes an accepted word eg laser, radar

Some items can be both, depending on how you pronounce it:
eg UFO - we can say 'U F O' or 'YUFOH'.

I hope this helps,
Clive

That's quite clear!
Maybe the dictionary regroups any abreviation that are used...
Thanks, Clive

USA is not an acronym as it is not pronounced "user" but each letter is spelled out "U-S-A".

Laser is an acronym as it is pronounced as a word.

All acronyms are abbreviations, but not all abbreviations are acronyms.