Acrostic


a series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, etc.
Also, acrostical. of, like, or forming an acrostic.
Historical Examples

He has left us his name, imbedded in runic letters as an acrostic, in the last canto of the poem, q.v.
Elene; Judith; Athelstan, or the Fight at Brunanburh; Byrhtnoth, or the Fight at Maldon; and the Dream of the Rood Anonymous

The answer to the acrostic is “mantrap”; the missing rhyme is “mishap.”
Marge Askinforit Barry Pain

The first was labelled “Repos Pacificque,” and represented by means of seven personages an acrostic on the royal name of Charles.
The Story of Rouen Sir Theodore Andrea Cook

But there is no more trace of acrostic structure in x. till ver.
The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 1 A. Maclaren

Further, the pair of verses then begins with the fifth letter; and the only irregularity in the acrostic arrangement till ver.
The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 1 A. Maclaren

It is not only the exigencies of the acrostic which determine the order in ver.
The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 1 A. Maclaren

“The first altar,” written by Dosiadas of Rhodes, is the earliest instance of a Greek acrostic, or of any one which formed words.
History of English Humour, Vol. 1 (of 2) Alfred Guy Kingan L’Estrange

Marked progress of thought is not to be looked for in an acrostic psalm.
The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 1 A. Maclaren

Rachel was the recipient of the most delicate compliment the acrostic has ever been employed to convey.
Poetical Ingenuities and Eccentricities Various

Unlike its predecessors, the fifth and last elegy is not an acrostic.
Expositor’s Bible: The Song of Solomon Walter Adeney

noun

a number of lines of writing, such as a poem, certain letters of which form a word, proverb, etc. A single acrostic is formed by the initial letters of the lines, a double acrostic by the initial and final letters, and a triple acrostic by the initial, middle, and final letters
the word, proverb, etc, so formed
(as modifier): an acrostic sonnet

n.

short poem in which the initial letters of the lines, taken in order, spell a word or phrase, 1580s, from Medieval Latin acrostichis, from Greek akrostikhis, from akros “at the end, outermost” (see acrid) + stikhos “line of verse,” literally “row” (see stair).

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    a series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, etc. Also, acrostical. of, like, or forming an acrostic. noun a number of lines of writing, such as a poem, certain letters of which form a word, proverb, etc. A single […]

  • Acroter

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