Anagrams


a word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters: “Angel” is an anagram of “glean.”.
anagrams, (used with a singular verb) a game in which the players build words by transposing and, often, adding letters.
to form (the letters of a text) into a secret message by rearranging them.
to rearrange (the letters of a text) so as to discover a secret message.
Contemporary Examples

Upon opening The Warsaw anagrams, I thought: why am I reading another Holocaust novel?
Must Read Novels Lucy Scholes, John Wilwol, Randy Rosenthal, Nina MacLaughlin August 3, 2011

Historical Examples

I think he wrote these letters for fun, as some people make puzzles, anagrams, or Limericks!
The Story of My Life Ellen Terry

It is much like anagrams, this ordering of matter in an 109 essay.
English: Composition and Literature W. F. (William Franklin) Webster

Empty the contents of a box of “anagrams” on a table so all the letters are in a pile face downward.
Games for Everybody May C. Hofmann

The prefaces to this are signed with anagrams of George Starkey’s name.
Poems of Henry Vaughan, Silurist, Volume II Henry Vaughan

I think he wrote these letters for fun, as some people make puzzles, anagrams, or limericks.
McClure’s Magazine, Vol. XXXI, September 1908, No. 5 Various

Then that must have been a masquerade, that other time—all that mumbo-jumbo with the anagrams.
And Then the Town Took Off Richard Wilson

The Italian passion for devises, anagrams, emblems, and mottoes became the rage in Paris.
Illuminated Manuscripts John W. Bradley

Numerous, and curious too, are the anagrams which my memory could furnish me.
Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 110, December 6, 1851 Various

There is even a reference to a bibliographer of books of anagrams.
A History of Bibliographies of Bibliographies Archer Taylor

noun
a word or phrase the letters of which can be rearranged into another word or phrase
n.

transposition of letters in a word so as to form another, 1580s, from French anagramme or Modern Latin anagramma (16c.), both from Greek anagrammatizein “transpose letters,” from ana- “up, back” (see ana-) + gramma (genitive grammatos) “letter” (see grammar). Related: Anagrammatical; anagrammatically.

Read Also:

  • Anah

    anah speech. (1.) One of the sons of Seir, and head of an Idumean tribe, called a Horite, as in course of time all the branches of this tribe were called from their dwelling in caves in Mount Seir (Gen. 36:20, 29; 1 Chr. 1:38). (2.) One of the two sons of Zibeon the Horite, […]

  • Anaheim

    a city in SW California, SE of Los Angeles. Contemporary Examples “It is such an extremely vulnerable population,” said Chris Caster, a case manager with the Anaheim Interfaith Shelter. Serial Killer Targets Homeless Men in Orange County Christine Pelisek January 4, 2012 The shoot lasted 45 days, with 11 days at Disney World in Orlando […]

  • Anahuac

    the central plateau of Mexico, between the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental ranges (3700 to 9000 feet; 1128 to 2743 meters): center of former Aztec civilization. Historical Examples The morning broke over the beautiful anahuac in loveliness and splendor. A Prince of Anahuac James A. Porter Such are the shores of anahuac—the […]

  • Nin

    Anaïs [uh-nahy-uh s] /əˈnaɪ əs/ (Show IPA), 1903–77, U.S. novelist and diarist. Historical Examples Mac wasn’t in Dawson, but he got there next mo’Nin’ and heard the news. The Yukon Trail William MacLeod Raine This phonetic writing furnishes the reading for Nin in Nin-Klgal. The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Morris Jastrow By representing Hea […]

  • Anak

    anak long-necked, the son of Arba, father of the Anakim (Josh. 15:13; 21:11, Heb. _Anok_). Historical Examples Ashtaroth must have had pity on me; for she directed my steps to those very traders who bought Sarchedon from the sons of anak. Sarchedon G. J. (George John) Whyte-Melville He will say the word ‘anak,’ and when […]


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