anagram
A word or phrase made by rearranging another’s letters.
Played on · Day 44 · word 1 of 5
Letters put into another arrangement
How anagram reached English
oldest firstSimplified path. The puzzle showed the main steps; the full route is being checked.
combined
combined
Greek
anagrammatizein
‘To transpose letters’
within Greek
Greek
ana- + gramma
‘Back + letter’
into English
English
anagram
‘A rearrangement of letters’
The story of anagram
The dictionaries connect anagram with Greek anagrammatizein, a verb about transposing letters. The component analysis brings together ana- and gramma.
Sources
- Collins: anagram
The American Origin glosses ana- as back and gramma as letter, modeled on anagrammatizein; the British entry gives a New Latin route.
- Merriam-Webster: anagram
English borrowed New Latin anagramma, formed with Greek ana- and -gramma after Middle Greek anagrammatizein.
- Online Etymology Dictionary: -gram
Also built on Greek *gramma* "letter": grammar, monogram
Also built on Greek gramma
- anagramanagram, this word
- grammargrammar
- monogrammonogram
A modern anagram can rearrange letters in any order; it need not reverse them exactly.