Loading solver...
A specific form of anagram in which a new name, pseudonym, title, or brand is formed by spelling an existing word or name backwards.
From Greek ana- ('backwards') + onoma ('name'). Ananyms have been used by novelists, artists, and commercial advertisers as an ingenious cryptographic naming technique. The most celebrated literary ananym in English literature is Samuel Butler's 1872 satirical novel 'Erewhon', which reverses the letters of 'nowhere' (substituting 'wh' for 'hw'). In 19th-century Victorian London back-slang, costermongers and street merchants spoke an entire cant formed of ananyms and reversal words, producing 'yob' (ananym of 'boy'), which permanently entered the standard English vocabulary. Commercial brands frequently use ananyms: the British confectioner Trebor was founded by Robert Robertson, Serutan laxative was marketed with the slogan 'Read it backwards, it spells Natures', and Dmitri Borgmann coined the word 'semordnilap' as an ananym of 'palindromes'.
Test any word or name to explore reverse ananyms:
Verified English words exemplifying ananyms (reversed pseudonyms) with Scrabble scores
Linguistic definitions, etymological origins, and tournament usage
A semordnilap is a natural dictionary word that happens to spell another valid dictionary word backwards (like stressed/desserts). An ananym is a name, pseudonym, or coinage deliberately created by spelling a word backwards (like Erewhon < Nowhere).