ar
|ar|
🇺🇸
/eɪ ˈɑr/
🇬🇧
/eɪ ˈɑː(r)/
overlay virtual on real
Etymology
'ar' as an abbreviation originates from the modern English phrase 'augmented reality' (coined in late 20th century), where 'augmented' comes from Latin 'augmentare' meaning 'to increase or make larger' and 'reality' from Latin 'realis' meaning 'relating to things.'
The full phrase 'augmented reality' was popularized in the late 20th century (term often credited to Tom Caudell, 1990). Over time the phrase was shortened in technical and general usage to the initialism 'AR', which is now commonly used on its own.
Initially the two-word phrase specifically described systems that augment a user's perception; over time the abbreviation 'AR' came to stand for both the technology and applications implementing that concept.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
abbreviation for 'augmented reality' — a technology that overlays computer-generated images or information on a user's view of the real world.
ar apps let you place virtual furniture in your room to see how it looks.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Noun 2
the Internet country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Argentina: '.ar'.
The company's site uses the domain example.ar for its Argentina pages.
Noun 3
chemical symbol 'Ar' for the element argon (element 18) — often written with a capital A; sometimes referenced in lower-case in plain text.
On the periodic table, ar corresponds to element 18, argon.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/30 12:40