Short form of a word or group of words. Abbreviations include shortenings, contractions, initialisms and acronyms.
A more extensive list of grammatical terms is included in The Right Word: A Writer’s Toolkit of Grammar, Vocabulary and Literary Terms (Bloomsbury 2021)
© Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2021
Glossary
We’ve curated a glossary of terms regarding all things writing and publishing related. From commonly-used terms to abbreviations, our glossary will guide writers and people starting out in publishing, to cut through the jargon and gain a better understanding.
Filter by
Abbreviation
Acronym
Abbreviation formed from parts of other words, for example, COVID- 19 (for coronavirus disease 2019), or an initialism that has become a word in its own right, for example, UNESCO (for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
A more extensive list of grammatical terms is included in The Right Word: A Writer’s Toolkit of Grammar, Vocabulary and Literary Terms (Bloomsbury 2021)
© Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2021
Active voice
Feature of a verb when the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb, as in the sentence The storm destroyed the house.
A more extensive list of grammatical terms is included in The Right Word: A Writer’s Toolkit of Grammar, Vocabulary and Literary Terms (Bloomsbury 2021)
Adage
A popular saying or expression which conveys a shared and often repeated belief. It might be a proverb or an aphorism or a maxim, but has a sense of universal truth about it.
A more extensive list of literary terms, with quotations from fiction and non-fiction sources showing the terms in use, is included in The Right Word: A Writer’s Toolkit of Grammar, Vocabulary and Literary Terms (Bloomsbury 2021)
© Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2021
Adjective
Word that describes a noun or pronoun, for example, happy.
A more extensive list of grammatical terms is included in The Right Word: A Writer’s Toolkit of Grammar, Vocabulary and Literary Terms (Bloomsbury 2021)
© Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2021