---

6.8 Word Abbreviation

Word abbreviation provides a way to speed the typing of frequently used words and phrases. When in Abbrev mode, typing a word delimiter causes the previous word to be replaced with its expansion if there is one currently defined. The expansion for an abbrev may be any string, so this mode can be used for abbreviating programming language constructs and other more obscure uses. For example, Abbrev mode can be used to automatically correct common spelling mistakes and to enforce consistent capitalization of identifiers in programs.

Abbrev is an abbreviation for abbreviation, which is used for historical reasons. Obviously the original writer of Abbrev mode hated to type long words and could hardly use Abbrev mode while writing Abbrev mode.

A word abbrev can be either global or local to a major mode. A global word abbrev is defined no matter what the current major mode is, while a mode word abbrev is only defined when its mode is the major mode in the current buffer. Mode word abbrevs can be used to prevent abbrev expansion in inappropriate contexts.

• Basic Commands
• Word Abbrev Files
• Listing Word Abbrevs
• Editing Word Abbrevs
• Deleting Word Abbrevs