What do you call a word that can be spelled forward or backward forming two different words
Trying to find the name of the word that describes a word mean spelled backwards or forwards is meaning and having different meanings. For example: reward and drawer.
terminology
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
add a comment |
Trying to find the name of the word that describes a word mean spelled backwards or forwards is meaning and having different meanings. For example: reward and drawer.
terminology
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
add a comment |
Trying to find the name of the word that describes a word mean spelled backwards or forwards is meaning and having different meanings. For example: reward and drawer.
terminology
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
Trying to find the name of the word that describes a word mean spelled backwards or forwards is meaning and having different meanings. For example: reward and drawer.
terminology
terminology
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
asked Mar 21 at 16:44
Joseph BarrettJoseph Barrett
211
211
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
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It's called an anadrome. Palindrome is a special case where forward and backward generates the same word. Anagram is also related but the letters can be re-arranged in any order.
See examples at http://www.theislandenglishtutor.com/anagrams-palindromes-and-anadromes-heteropalindromes.html
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
add a comment |
Semordnilap is apparently a modern alternative. It's "palindromes" in reverse.
Wikipedia source for palindrome and semordnilap
From Macmillan
The word palindrome is an established term in English, used to refer to words or phrases which read the same in either direction. Simple examples are the word noon, or the phrase navy van, which have exactly the same form and meaning when read in reverse. If the word palindromes is itself read in reverse however, the result is semordnilap, a term coined in recent years to refer to words and phrases which make sense when read backwards, but have a different meaning from when they are read forwards.
The British author Michael Quinion seems to have been among the first to give a definition of the term semordnilap, featuring the word in an article for his interesting website, www.worldwidewords.org, in May 2000, though the term is yet to be acknowledged in printed dictionaries. Alternative terms previously used by linguists to refer to the same phenomenon are reversal/reversal pair, inversion and back-word.
(Although, personally, I think Paul S. Lee's answer gives the original word and this one is a fun made-up word because someone didn't realise there already was one!).
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
1
Yeah, anadrome (new word for me) is a lot easier to pronounce.
– Damila
Mar 21 at 18:49
1
@Damila semordnilap (sem ord nil app) is pretty easy to pronounce for me. Maybe some people would have trouble with the rdn part, but it's dead simple if you go "ord. nil"
– Aethenosity
Mar 21 at 21:08
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
It's called an anadrome. Palindrome is a special case where forward and backward generates the same word. Anagram is also related but the letters can be re-arranged in any order.
See examples at http://www.theislandenglishtutor.com/anagrams-palindromes-and-anadromes-heteropalindromes.html
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
add a comment |
It's called an anadrome. Palindrome is a special case where forward and backward generates the same word. Anagram is also related but the letters can be re-arranged in any order.
See examples at http://www.theislandenglishtutor.com/anagrams-palindromes-and-anadromes-heteropalindromes.html
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
add a comment |
It's called an anadrome. Palindrome is a special case where forward and backward generates the same word. Anagram is also related but the letters can be re-arranged in any order.
See examples at http://www.theislandenglishtutor.com/anagrams-palindromes-and-anadromes-heteropalindromes.html
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
It's called an anadrome. Palindrome is a special case where forward and backward generates the same word. Anagram is also related but the letters can be re-arranged in any order.
See examples at http://www.theislandenglishtutor.com/anagrams-palindromes-and-anadromes-heteropalindromes.html
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
answered Mar 21 at 16:59
Paul S. LeePaul S. Lee
2894
2894
add a comment |
add a comment |
Semordnilap is apparently a modern alternative. It's "palindromes" in reverse.
Wikipedia source for palindrome and semordnilap
From Macmillan
The word palindrome is an established term in English, used to refer to words or phrases which read the same in either direction. Simple examples are the word noon, or the phrase navy van, which have exactly the same form and meaning when read in reverse. If the word palindromes is itself read in reverse however, the result is semordnilap, a term coined in recent years to refer to words and phrases which make sense when read backwards, but have a different meaning from when they are read forwards.
The British author Michael Quinion seems to have been among the first to give a definition of the term semordnilap, featuring the word in an article for his interesting website, www.worldwidewords.org, in May 2000, though the term is yet to be acknowledged in printed dictionaries. Alternative terms previously used by linguists to refer to the same phenomenon are reversal/reversal pair, inversion and back-word.
(Although, personally, I think Paul S. Lee's answer gives the original word and this one is a fun made-up word because someone didn't realise there already was one!).
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
1
Yeah, anadrome (new word for me) is a lot easier to pronounce.
– Damila
Mar 21 at 18:49
1
@Damila semordnilap (sem ord nil app) is pretty easy to pronounce for me. Maybe some people would have trouble with the rdn part, but it's dead simple if you go "ord. nil"
– Aethenosity
Mar 21 at 21:08
add a comment |
Semordnilap is apparently a modern alternative. It's "palindromes" in reverse.
Wikipedia source for palindrome and semordnilap
From Macmillan
The word palindrome is an established term in English, used to refer to words or phrases which read the same in either direction. Simple examples are the word noon, or the phrase navy van, which have exactly the same form and meaning when read in reverse. If the word palindromes is itself read in reverse however, the result is semordnilap, a term coined in recent years to refer to words and phrases which make sense when read backwards, but have a different meaning from when they are read forwards.
The British author Michael Quinion seems to have been among the first to give a definition of the term semordnilap, featuring the word in an article for his interesting website, www.worldwidewords.org, in May 2000, though the term is yet to be acknowledged in printed dictionaries. Alternative terms previously used by linguists to refer to the same phenomenon are reversal/reversal pair, inversion and back-word.
(Although, personally, I think Paul S. Lee's answer gives the original word and this one is a fun made-up word because someone didn't realise there already was one!).
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
1
Yeah, anadrome (new word for me) is a lot easier to pronounce.
– Damila
Mar 21 at 18:49
1
@Damila semordnilap (sem ord nil app) is pretty easy to pronounce for me. Maybe some people would have trouble with the rdn part, but it's dead simple if you go "ord. nil"
– Aethenosity
Mar 21 at 21:08
add a comment |
Semordnilap is apparently a modern alternative. It's "palindromes" in reverse.
Wikipedia source for palindrome and semordnilap
From Macmillan
The word palindrome is an established term in English, used to refer to words or phrases which read the same in either direction. Simple examples are the word noon, or the phrase navy van, which have exactly the same form and meaning when read in reverse. If the word palindromes is itself read in reverse however, the result is semordnilap, a term coined in recent years to refer to words and phrases which make sense when read backwards, but have a different meaning from when they are read forwards.
The British author Michael Quinion seems to have been among the first to give a definition of the term semordnilap, featuring the word in an article for his interesting website, www.worldwidewords.org, in May 2000, though the term is yet to be acknowledged in printed dictionaries. Alternative terms previously used by linguists to refer to the same phenomenon are reversal/reversal pair, inversion and back-word.
(Although, personally, I think Paul S. Lee's answer gives the original word and this one is a fun made-up word because someone didn't realise there already was one!).
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
Semordnilap is apparently a modern alternative. It's "palindromes" in reverse.
Wikipedia source for palindrome and semordnilap
From Macmillan
The word palindrome is an established term in English, used to refer to words or phrases which read the same in either direction. Simple examples are the word noon, or the phrase navy van, which have exactly the same form and meaning when read in reverse. If the word palindromes is itself read in reverse however, the result is semordnilap, a term coined in recent years to refer to words and phrases which make sense when read backwards, but have a different meaning from when they are read forwards.
The British author Michael Quinion seems to have been among the first to give a definition of the term semordnilap, featuring the word in an article for his interesting website, www.worldwidewords.org, in May 2000, though the term is yet to be acknowledged in printed dictionaries. Alternative terms previously used by linguists to refer to the same phenomenon are reversal/reversal pair, inversion and back-word.
(Although, personally, I think Paul S. Lee's answer gives the original word and this one is a fun made-up word because someone didn't realise there already was one!).
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
edited Mar 21 at 17:39
Laurel
34.8k668121
34.8k668121
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
answered Mar 21 at 17:11
PamPam
5,3541833
5,3541833
1
Yeah, anadrome (new word for me) is a lot easier to pronounce.
– Damila
Mar 21 at 18:49
1
@Damila semordnilap (sem ord nil app) is pretty easy to pronounce for me. Maybe some people would have trouble with the rdn part, but it's dead simple if you go "ord. nil"
– Aethenosity
Mar 21 at 21:08
add a comment |
1
Yeah, anadrome (new word for me) is a lot easier to pronounce.
– Damila
Mar 21 at 18:49
1
@Damila semordnilap (sem ord nil app) is pretty easy to pronounce for me. Maybe some people would have trouble with the rdn part, but it's dead simple if you go "ord. nil"
– Aethenosity
Mar 21 at 21:08
1
1
Yeah, anadrome (new word for me) is a lot easier to pronounce.
– Damila
Mar 21 at 18:49
Yeah, anadrome (new word for me) is a lot easier to pronounce.
– Damila
Mar 21 at 18:49
1
1
@Damila semordnilap (sem ord nil app) is pretty easy to pronounce for me. Maybe some people would have trouble with the rdn part, but it's dead simple if you go "ord. nil"
– Aethenosity
Mar 21 at 21:08
@Damila semordnilap (sem ord nil app) is pretty easy to pronounce for me. Maybe some people would have trouble with the rdn part, but it's dead simple if you go "ord. nil"
– Aethenosity
Mar 21 at 21:08
add a comment |
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