The MIME Type application/abiword is used to indicate the presence of AbiWord document files. Even though these are files containing documents, this MIME type is categorized under "application".

The files made in this format carry the extension ABW and are created by and for the AbiWord word processing software. AbiWord is a free, open source project that was started by a company called SourceGear Corporation. It was developed as a part of the AbiSource project. The AbiSource project was meant to create a complete, cross-platform and open source office suite, starting with the word processor AbiWord.

Since its inception, AbiWord was coded to be easily portable to all platforms. It currently supports most Unix based platforms and some versions of Windows. AbiWord is not comparable to the likes of MS Word but it does have all basic word processing capabilities for systems where such software is missing. It supports all the common document formats, ensuring that all of them can be read and edited using the software. AbiWord has multiple languages to choose from. It supports different text directions and even mixed modes. The built-in spell-checker and dictionary works for over 30 languages. It also has a arrangements for plugins and supports mail merge.