Acronym vs. Anagram

Acronymnoun

An abbreviation formed by the initial letters of other words, sometimes exclusively such abbreviations when pronounced as a word (as "laser") rather than as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").

Acronymnoun

An abbreviation formed by the beginning letters or syllables of other words (as "Benelux").

Acronymverb

To form into an acronym

Acronymnoun

a word formed from the initial letters of a multi-word name

Acronymnoun

an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA).

Acronym

An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase, usually using individual initial letters, as in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or EU (European Union), but sometimes using syllables, as in Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg), or a mixture of the two, as in radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging). Similarly, acronyms are sometimes pronounced as words, as in NASA or UNESCO, sometimes as the individual letters, as in FBI or ATM, or a mixture of the two, as in JPEG or IUPAC. The broader sense of acronym inclusive of terms pronounced as the individual letters (such as ) is sometimes criticized, but it is the term's original meaning and is in common use.

Anagramnoun

(of words) A word or phrase that is created by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

Anagramverb

To form anagrams.

Anagramnoun

Literally, the letters of a word read backwards, but in its usual wider sense, the change of one word or phrase into another by the transposition of its letters. Thus Galenus becomes angelus; William Noy (attorney-general to Charles I., and a laborious man) may be turned into I moyl in law.

Anagramverb

To anagrammatize.

Anagramnoun

a word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase

Anagramverb

read letters out of order to discover a hidden meaning

Anagramnoun

a word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another, such as spar, formed from rasp.

Anagram

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word anagram itself can be rearranged into nag a ram, also the word binary into brainy and the word adobe into abode.