#Anagram scrabble full#

Puttenham, in the time of Elizabeth I, wished to start from Elissabet Anglorum Regina (Latin: Elizabeth Queen of the English), to obtain Multa regnabis ense gloria (Latin: By thy sword shalt thou reign in great renown) he explains carefully that H is 'a note of aspiration only and no letter', and that Z in Greek or Hebrew is a mere SS. This can be seen in a popular Latin anagram against the Jesuits: Societas Jesu turned into Vitiosa seces (Latin: Cut off the wicked things). There was an ongoing tradition of allowing anagrams to be 'perfect' if the letters were all used once, but allowing for these interchanges. Latin continued to influence letter values (such as I = J, U = V and W = VV).

#Anagram scrabble full#

Two examples are the change of Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum (Latin: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord with you) into Virgo serena, pia, munda et immaculata (Latin: Serene virgin, pious, clean and spotless), and the anagrammatic answer to Pilate's question, Quid est veritas? (Latin: What is truth?), namely, Est vir qui adest (Latin: It is the man who is here). There were attempts to regulate anagram formation, an important one in English being that of George Puttenham's Of the Anagram or Posy Transposed in The Art of English Poesie (1589).Īs a literary game when Latin was the common property of the literate, Latin anagrams were prominent.

In particular, spelling in English only slowly became fixed. Īny historical material on anagrams must always be interpreted in terms of the assumptions and spellings that were current for the language in question. They became hugely popular in the early modern period, especially in Germany. Est vir qui adest, explained below, was cited as the example in Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language. Īnagrams in Latin were considered witty over many centuries. Later, Kabbalists took this up with enthusiasm, calling anagrams temurah. In the Talmudic and Midrashic literature, anagrams were used to interpret the Hebrew Bible, notably by Eleazar of Modi'im. They are said to date back at least to the Greek poet Lycophron, in the third century BCE but this relies on an account of Lycophron given by John Tzetzes in the 12th century. They were popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, for example with the poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut. History Īnagrams can be traced back to the time of the ancient Greeks, and were used to find the hidden and mystical meaning in names. 'Anagrams' itself can be anagrammatized as 'Ars magna' (Latin, 'the great art'). They can change part of speech, such as the adjective 'silent' to the verb 'listen'. ' Tom Marvolo Riddle' = 'I am Lord Voldemort'.' William Shakespeare' = 'I am a weakish speller'.They can sometimes change from a proper noun or personal name into an appropriate sentence: For example:Īn anagram that has a meaning opposed to that of the original word or phrase is called an 'antigram'.

' She Sells Sanctuary' = ' Santa shy, less cruel' or ' Satan cruel, less shy'Īn anagram may also be a synonym of the original word.

' McDonald's restaurants' = ' Uncle Sam's standard rot'.

' Church of Scientology' = 'rich-chosen goofy cult'.

They may be a parody, a criticism or satire. An animation for the anagram ' President Obama = a baptism redone'Īnagrams may be created as a commentary on the subject.