RT

¹

or rt

[ ahr-tee ]

noun

, plural RTs, RT's.

1. retweet ( def 2 ):

   Thanks for all of the likes and RTs.

verb (used with or without object)

, RTd or RT'd or RTed, RTing or RT'ing.

1. retweet ( def 1 ): I don’t like to RT blindly.

   Please RT this important petition.

   I don’t like to RT blindly.

RT

²

abbreviation for

1. radiotelegraphy.
2. radiotelephone.
3. radiotelephony.
4. respiratory therapist.
5. respiratory therapy.
6. retweet ( def ).

rt.

³

abbreviation for

1. right.

r.t.

⁴

abbreviation for

, Football.

1. right tackle.

RT

¹

abbreviation for

1. radio telegraphy
2. radio telephony

rt

²

abbreviation for

1. right

Word History and Origins

Origin of RT¹

First recorded in 2008

Example Sentences

The Bishop of Gloucester, Rt Revd Rachel Treweek said any bishop thinking about becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury needs "their head reading".

From BBC

"I really appreciate that the Archbishop has wholeheartedly apologised for what he could have and should have done differently in 2013," the Rt Rev Joanne Grenfell, the Bishop of Stepney told the BBC.

From BBC

In May, 2021, Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor accused Google of restricting YouTube access to Russian media outlets, including RT and Sputnik, and supporting "illegal protest activity".

From BBC

The leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies, has said the policy is “unforgivable” and called on Labour to “keep pensioners warm this winter”.

From BBC

Ahmed-Sheikh also worked with Salmond on his personal projects - their co-owned production company Slainte Media produced The Alex Salmond Show, which was controversially shown on Russian state broadcaster RT until 2022.

From BBC

About This Word

What else does RT mean?

RT is short for retweet, which is the act of sharing another user’s post on the social media platform Twitter.

How is RT pronounced?

[ ahr-tee ]

What are some other forms of RT?

rt

What are some other words related to RT?

• tweet
• subtweet
• Twitterstorm

Where does RT come from?

In the early days of Twitter (circa 2006), the term retweet was used by users when they wanted to tweet an identical message that they had tweeted earlier. However, the term quickly began to change meaning as users began wanting to share other people’s tweets. In order to do this, users would copy and paste another user’s tweet, then preface it with retweet, followed by the Twitter handle of the original author.

However, in 2008 one particular user, @TDavid, decided that he didn’t want to write retweet, and instead, used RT, particularly useful for a platform where space is at a premium. Since then, the acronym has steadily gained in popularity to the point where it is now commonplace on Twitter.

Twitter thought the manual retweet process was a bit cumbersome, so in 2009 it created a retweet feature, which allowed users to share other user’s tweets with the click of a button. Just months after Twitter implemented this new function, RT was entered into Urban Dictionary and Twittonary, a lexicon of Twitter jargon.

How is RT used in real life?

RT can be a noun (a/an RT) or verb (to RT). It can be written as an uppercase RT or lowercase rt.

On Twitter, RT can be often issued as a request for others to give them a signal boost.

new twitter.. pls rt and follow❤️ pic.twitter.com/eTBNlhjjBr

— Ty’Daja A. Rodriguez (@__dajathedolll) September 5, 2018

The acronym is also particularly popular among organizations implementing marketing campaigns.

A massive thank you to everybody who is supporting the Peoples Walk for Wildlife . If you would like contribute please visit: https://t.co/nBKygydVxG #PeoplesWalkForWildlife And please RT . pic.twitter.com/fwvtxiIy7h

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) September 5, 2018

While less common, some people occasionally say retweet in everyday speech in order to express support for something someone else has said, such is the influence of Twitter on our everyday language.