recursive acronym

English

Etymology

recursive +‎ acronym, originating in early hacker culture and later popularized by Douglas Hofstadter.

Noun

Examples
GNU → GNU's Not Unix HURD → HIRD of Unix-Replacing Daemons HIRD → HURD of Interfaces Representing Depth

recursive acronym (plural recursive acronyms)

1. An acronym in which a word (often the first) of the phrase represented by the acronym is the acronym itself.
   • 1983 April, Douglas R. Hofstadter, “Metamagical Themas”, in Scientific American, →ISSN, page 20:

     I used the odd variable name “tato”, mentioning that it is a recursive acronym standing for “tato (and tato only)”. Using this fact you can expand “tato” any number of times.

Translations

an acronym in which a word of the phrase represented by the acronym is the acronym itself

• Dutch: recursief acroniem n
• Finnish: rekursiivinen akronyymi
• French: acronyme récursif

See also

• macronym
• RAS syndrome

Further reading

• recursive acronym on Wikipedia.Wikipedia