The nameit control word (.nameit) is a macro that allows you to create a special kind of symbol. Nameit has two operands that are used in IPF, SYMBOL and TEXT. The operands can be in any order (.nameit symbol=name text='string').

Symbol=name identifies the name of the symbols (just the name, without the preceding & or the trailing period) you want to create. It can be up to 10 characters long (A-Z, 0-9), with no blanks or special characters; the first character must be a letter.

Text='string' identifies the content of the value to be assigned to the symbol and is what is printed.

Here's an example of how .nameit could be used in your document: 

.nameit symbol=os text='operating system'
.
.
:p.The &os supports multitasking.

The output looks like this: 

The operating system supports multitasking.

Note: You do not use the & in the .nameit when you actually use the symbol. Also, you must use a period at the end of the symbol name when you use the symbol.