Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Abbreviate \Ab*bre"vi*ate\, v. t. [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.