noun / verb
anagram
AN-uh-gram/ˈænəɡræm/
A word or phrase made by rearranging all the letters of another, or the act of doing so.
Rearranging the letters of “cat” produces the anagram “act.”
Etymology
The pieces combine “back” with “letter.” The Greek verb meant transposing letters to form another word, so the image is of moving letters into a new arrangement, not necessarily reversing their order.
In context
Then, there's this incredible Latin anagram. Pontius Pilate asks the question, "Quid est veritas?" What is truth? The rearranged letters of his own question provide the answer, "Est vir qui adest."
More examples
- Each anagram must use all the original letters.
- The puzzle asks us to anagram the name of a city.
- She spends the afternoon anagramming phrases for a word game.
Forms
anagram · anagrams · anagrammed · anagramming
Similar words
- rearrangement
- Broader; can alter objects rather than the letters of words.
- wordplay
- Includes many techniques besides rearranging all the letters.