Proper definition for "acronym" (was A vs, an)

Subject: Proper definition for "acronym" (was A vs, an)
From: "Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:47:07 -0600

In the thread about whether to use "a" or "an" at the beginning of an
acronym, I noticed there was some disagreement as to what comes under
the heading of an acronym. Some people say that the word refers
specifically to *words* formed from the first letters of a phrase, which
is what the short definition on the Onelook site says:

http://www.onelook.com/?w=acronym&ls=a

Others seem to think that the term can also include initializes, and
this definition seems to support that:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acronym

Is there a widely accepted consensus about which definition is correct?
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