In an article in a local paper, of which the subject is acronyms, the author states that "SeaBees" comes from Construction Battalions (that is CBs). I would think that CB would be the acronym, and SeaBees is technically not an acronym, but what would you call a spelling out of the sound of the 2 letters?
Hmm. I'm not sure if there is a special name for .
CB would be an abbreviation, not an acronym, and
Sea and
bee are obviously
homophones for
C and
B, respectively. Bees, especially honeybees, are legendary builders, so Seabee could be an
aptronym (A name devised to be characterizing or descriptive (Miss Neat; Felicity Foote).
Here's the definition of
Seabee from the American Heritage Dictionary:
Seabee
SYLLABICATION: Sea·bee
PRONUNCIATION: sē'bē'
NOUN: A member of one of the construction battalions in the U.S. Navy that builds naval aviation bases and shore facilities.
ETYMOLOGY: Alteration of cee bee, pronunciation of the initial letters of construction battalion.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
And here's the story of the
Seabees from the source.