Wikipedia

Anadrome

An anadrome[citation needed] (also emordnilap,[1] semordnilap[2] and levidrome[a]) is a word that has its spelling derived by reversing the spelling of another word. It is therefore a special type of anagram. There is a long history of names being coined as ananyms of existing words or names for entities related to the thing named by this subset of anadromes. Note that a levidrome usually spells another, existing word backwards, e.g. pots vs. stop,[3] while an anadrome results in novel letter sequences, such as Canada yielding Adanac (quite common street name in Canadian cities).

An animation of existing words or names for entities related to the thing named by the anadrome

Examples

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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Anadrome Derived from Explanation Type References
20461 Dioretsa asteroid asteroid with retrograde orbit astronomy [6]
Livic civil (engineering) trade newspaper, "a reflection of Civil Engineering" work [7]
Rekkof Aircraft Fokker Rekkof aircraft are based on Fokker designs. Also Rekkof Restart. Now Fokker Next Gen. business [8]
Redrum Murder Word used in the Stephen King novel The Shining (1977) and its movie adaptation (1980) Entertainment [9]
yrneh henry A unit of measurement for reciprocal electrical inductance. electricity
daraf farad a unit of elastance equal to the reciprocal farad. electricity
mho ohm A unit of electrical conductance which is the reciprocal of an ohm. Now known by its official SI name "siemens" although mho is still sometimes used. electricity [10]
Trebor Robert Source of the names of Trebor confectionery, Robert Trebor, and probably Trebor the composer name (alias) and product
Trebor and Werdna Robert [Woodhead] and Andrew [C. Greenberg] Characters in Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord computer game named after its programmers. work
Seltaeb Beatles Beatles' merchandising company business [11]
Llareggub "bugger all" In Under Milk Wood work [2]
Harpo Productions Oprah (Winfrey) Oprah's media company business [2]
Senim Silla "all is mines" "mines" is AAVE for "mine". name (alias) [12]
Navi (Virgil) Ivan (Grissom) Apollo program joke by Grissom astronomy [13]
Dnoces (Edward H. White the) Second Apollo program joke by Grissom astronomy [13]
Regor Roger (Chaffee) Apollo program joke by Grissom astronomy [13]
Erewhon "nowhere" A utopia and the title of an 1872 novel by Samuel Butler. The digraph <wh> is not reversed. Many names within the book are also ananyms. work [2][14]
elgooG Google reverse-spelling search engine business
Xallarap parallax Converse microlensing effect term
Ebbot (Lundberg) Tobbe Tobbe is the usual hypocoristic of Torbjörn, his real given name. name (alias)
로꾸거 (Rokuko) 거꾸로 (gokkuro) Backwards for Korean for "backwards" work
Xvid DivX A competitor product
Trugoy (The Dove) yogurt He likes yogurt name (alias) [15]
Posdnuos "Sound-Sop" Both were used as stage names for Kelvin Mercer name (alias) [16]
MAPS (Mail Abuse Prevention System) spam reverse backronym product
Alucard Dracula Borne by various characters derived from Dracula work [11]
Nimda admin The computer worm assumed admin-like powers. product
Nogard Dragon Character in Alan F. Beck art series The Adventures of Nogard & Jackpot name [17]
Emirp Prime An emirp is a prime number that results in a different prime when its digits are reversed. term
(Coquitlam) Adanac(s) Canada Team is Canadian organization
Nujabes Jun Seba His real name name (alias)
Essiac Rene Caisse Its inventor product
Revilo Oliver multiple authors and artists use this as an alias name (alias)
Adanac (Nipissing District, Ontario) Canada Location placename
Airegin Nigeria Composer Sonny Rollins is African American work
Yarg (Allan and Jenny) Gray Couple who provided the recipe product
Soma Records Amos Heilicher Owner business
Nomad (British band) Damon (Rochefort) Founder member organization
Gnip Gnop ping pong Reminiscent of the other tabletop game product
Trebloc, Mississippi Colbert Local family, whose name is found in many places; the reversal was "to avoid further repetition". placename [18]
Nagirroc Corrigan Owner's surname placename
Strebor Roberts Founder/owner? business
Ridan (horse) Nadir Named after another horse name (animal)
Niloak Pottery kaolin Material used in products business
Rellim Farm (Paul) Miller Founder business
Yellek, Ontario (R. J.) Kelley Trainmaster at the passing point placename
Nomar (Garciaparra) Ramon His father's name name
OAT (organizing autonomous telecomms) TAO (The Anarchy Organization) reverse backronym of its former name organization
Kroz Zork Homage to older computer game product
Ani Lorak Karolina Her real forename name (alias)
Sevas Tra "art saves" work
Azed (Diego) Deza Crossword compiler named after Spanish inquisitor name (alias) [19]
Tesremos (Derrick) Somerset (Macnutt) His middle name name (alias) [20]
Sualocin Nicolaus (Venator) Niccolò Cacciatore's name (~Nicholas Hunter) Latinized and reversed astronomy [21]
Rotanev (Nicolaus) Venator Niccolò Cacciatore's name (~Nicholas Hunter) Latinized and reversed astronomy [21]
Senrab (F.C.) Barnes After Senrab Street, after Barnes Street organization
(Neuchâtel) Xamax Max (Abegglen) Founder, backwards and forwards organization
C. W. Ceram K. W. Marek Surname Latinised and reversed name (alias) [22]
Allerednic Cinderella A "riches to rags" tale as opposed to Cinderella's rags to riches. Used by Jonathan Gershuny of high-achieving women whose careers stall after marriage. term [23]
Esio Trot tortoise Children's book by Roald Dahl work
Nevaeh Heaven feminine name name
Гярб вечнълс (Giarb vechnals) Слънчев бряг (Slanchev briag, "Sunny Beach") Bulgarian alphabet ananym placename
Namyats [Sam] Stayman Bridge convention invented by Stayman, who also invented the Stayman convention. term [24]
Adaven Nevada ghost town placename
Etnaviv Vivante open-source driver for Vivante GPU product
Namor Roman Comic book character whose creator wrote down noble-sounding names backwards and thought Roman/Namor looked the best name
Eivets Rednow Stevie Wonder Music album named from its artist work [11]
Yen Sid Disney The powerful sorcerer in Fantasia (1940), whose apprentice Mickey Mouse causes mayhem after borrowing his master's hat. name [25]
Klim milk A brand of powdered milk sold by Nestlé, early ads featuring the slogan "Spell it backwards." product [26]
Nevar raven In the 2002 TV series Raven, Nevar is the nemesis of the main character. It is also a minor character in an episode of Teen Titans Go! (see Bizarro World). It is also a possible answer to Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter riddle in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. name (alias) [27]
Rednaxela Terrace, Hong Kong Alexander Believed to have been originally named after a Mr. Alexander, who partially owned the street, but reversed due to a clerical error placename [28][29]
(the Mirror of)
Erised		 desire Its full inscription (mirrored and correctly spaced) reads "I show not your face but your heart’s desire." name [30]
Nitsuga Agustín Pseudonym of Agustín Barrios-Mangoré name

Many jazz titles were written by reversing names or nouns: Ecaroh inverts the spelling of its composer Horace Silver's Christian name. Sonny Rollins dedicated to Nigeria a tune called "Airegin".

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In 2017, a boy from Toronto, Canada coined "levidrome", and there were attempts to get it recognized by Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary.[3] In 2018, Oxford replied that it is still not ready.[4] As of 2021, it is still being requested.[5]

References

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  • Room, Adrian (2010-07-26). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4373-4. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  1. ^ "Is 'Emordnilap' a Real Word?". Snopes. 13 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d updated, Arika Okrent last (April 29, 2014). "9 words created by spelling other words backwards". theweek.
  3. ^ a b "What is a "levidrome?" Merriam-Webster recognizes new word in honor of little boy". November 27, 2017.
  4. ^ "Latest word on 'levidrome': Oxford says it's not ready, but linguist begs to differ". Times Colonist. October 14, 2018.
  5. ^ "A Victoria 10-year-old created a word for a linguistic oddity. Over the past four years, it's come to mean so much more". Capital Daily.
  6. ^ "20461 Dioretsa (1999 LD31)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Livic at three years old". 23 March 2007.
  8. ^ "Fokker's Back in the Airplane-Building Game - CBS News". CBS News. 10 March 2010.
  9. ^ Cummings-Grady, Mackenzie (March 8, 2024). "21 Savage's 'Redrum' Has an Unexpected Origin From a Classic Horror Movie". XXL Mag.
  10. ^ "Definition of MHO". www.merriam-webster.com.
  11. ^ a b c Honeycutt, Curtis. "Grammar Guy: A look back at backward words". Savannah Morning News.
  12. ^ Crazy Illa Wulf (May 2007). "Senim Silla: return of a star". platform8470. Gistel, Belgium. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  13. ^ a b c Harland, David Michael (2007). The first men on the moon: the story of Apollo 11. Springer. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-387-34176-7. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  14. ^ Balfour Daniels, R. (Winter 1969). "Names in the Fiction of Samuel Butler (1835-1902)". The South Central Bulletin. 29 (4). Johns Hopkins University Press, South Central Modern Language Association: 129–132. doi:10.2307/3187333. JSTOR 3187333.
  15. ^ "De La Soul co-founder Trugoy the Dove dead at 54". AP News. February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  16. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/05/18/de-la-souls-mind-bending-rap/af8f9493-1894-41e2-88f2-ed2057247d0b/
  17. ^ Alan F. Beck, The Adventures of Nogard & Jackpot , 2009. ISBN 978-1449519391
  18. ^ Phelps, Dawson A.; Edward Hunter Ross (Fall 1952). "Names Please: Place Names along the Natchez Trace" (PDF). The Journal of Mississippi History. 14. Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Mississippi Historical Society: 240. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
  19. ^ Room (2010), p.40
  20. ^ Room (2010), p.517
  21. ^ a b Ridpath, Ian; Tirion, Wil (2007). Stars and planets: the most complete guide to the stars, planets, galaxies, and the solar system. Princeton University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-691-13556-4.
  22. ^ Room (2010), p.99
  23. ^ Gershuny, Jonathan (1999). "Time Budgets, Life Histories and Social Position". Quality and Quantity. 33 (3): 277–289. doi:10.1023/A:1004648804214. S2CID 142779389.; Langdon, Julia (13 August 2000). "Cherie Booth: Now you see her, now you don't". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2019-04-23. Retrieved 23 April 2019.; Hay, Hannah Furness (31 May 2013). "Hay Festival 2013: Working women are Cinderella in reverse". Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Namyats (4C, 4D, 4H, 4S) - Bridge Bidding Convention". BridgeHands. Petaluma, California. 22 January 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  25. ^ Koehler, Dorene (2017). The Mouse and the Myth: Sacred Art and Secular Ritual of Disneyland. Indiana University Press. p. 161.
  26. ^ Smedley, Emma (1920). The school lunch: its organization and management in Philadelphia. Emma Smedley. p. 171.
  27. ^ "The Story Behind Lewis Carroll's Unsolvable Riddle". Mental Floss. September 12, 2021.
  28. ^ Yanne, Andrew; Heller, Gillis (2009). Signs of a Colonial Era. Hong Kong University Press. p. 143. ISBN 9789622099449.
  29. ^ "Stories behind Hong Kong street names: Rednaxela Terrace and its famous resident". South China Morning Post. 8 July 2016.
  30. ^ Jeelani, Hasina (November 16, 2021). "What we can learn about self-love from the Mirror of Erised in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'". Vogue India.
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  •   The dictionary definition of anadrome at Wiktionary
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