פָּלִינְדְּרוֹם (palindrom) — palindrome

Etymology

A פָּלִינְדְּרוֹם is a word (or phrase) whose letters read the same in both directions. Hebrew examples include אִלְמָלֵא, גַּג ("roof"), מַיִם ("water"), and לְצַלְצֵל ("to ring"). The term was coined in English by the author and emblematist Henry Peacham in 1638, in his book The Truth of Our Times, as a compound of two Greek words: πάλιν (palin, "again / backwards") and δρόμος (dromos, "course, road, direction"). The intended meaning is "running back in the opposite direction." The word spread from English into other European languages and from there into Hebrew.

The column by Elon Gilad that covers פָּלִינְדְּרוֹם uses it as a springboard to survey a series of related technical terms in linguistics and word-play, all of Greek or Latin origin, most entering Hebrew via English:

סְמוֹרְדְנִילָפּ (semordnilap): A word that spells a different word when read backwards (for example, Hebrew רַכֶּבֶת / תִּבְחַר, or אֵל / לֹא, or גָּד / דָּג). The term was coined by wordplay scholar Dmitri Borgmann in his 1965 book Language on Vacation; it is itself a semordnilap of the word "Palindromes."

אִיזוֹגְרָמָה / הֶטְרוֹגְרָמָה (isogram / heterogram): A word in which no letter appears more than once. Borgmann coined "Isogram" (from Greek isos, "equal," + gramma, "letter") in the same 1965 book, but it never gained wide traction; from the 1970s onward the preferred term became "Heterogram" (from Greek heteros, "different"). Most Hebrew words are heterograms: כֶּלֶב, חָתוּל, פִּיצָה.

הוֹמוֹנִימִים (homonyms): Words that are spelled and pronounced identically but have different meanings and different origins, for example אוּלָם (hall) vs. אוּלָם (but/however), or שָׁנָה (year) vs. שָׁנָה (repeated). The term derives from Aristotle's Greek ὁμώνυμος (homonumos), from homos ("same") + onoma ("name").

הוֹמוֹפוֹנִים (homophones): Words that sound the same but are spelled differently: כֹּל/קוֹל, לֹא/לוֹ, כֵּן/קֵן. The term homophone was coined in French by Jean-François Champollion (the decipherer of the Rosetta Stone) in 1824, from Greek homos ("same") + phone ("sound, voice").

הֶטֶרוֹנִימִים (heteronyms): Words spelled identically but pronounced differently with different meanings. Hebrew, written without vowels, has many: סֵפֶר/סְפָר/סָפַר/סַפָּר all appear as "ספר" in unvocalized text. The term Heteronym appeared in English in the late 19th century, from Greek heteros ("different") + onoma ("name").

אֶפִּינוֹם (eponym): A word derived from someone's name. Hebrew eponyms include: בַּלְשָׁן (from the name Bilshan in Ezra/Nehemiah), תִּירָס (from Noah's grandson Tiras), and כָּלַנְתָּרִיזְם (from Jerusalem city councilman Rahamim Kalantar). From Greek epi ("upon, after") + onoma ("name").

אוֹנוֹמָטוֹפֵּאָה (onomatopoeia): Words that sound like what they describe: זִמְזוּם (buzz), רִשְׁרוּשׁ (rustle), טִפְטוּף (drip). Notably, Hebrew also has בַּקְבּוּק ("bottle," which sounds like pouring) and פְּקָק ("cork," which sounds like a cork popping). From Greek onoma ("name") + poieo ("to make, create").

מילות אוֹטוֹלוֹגִיּוֹת / הֶטְרוֹלוֹגִיּוֹת (autological / heterological): An autological word describes itself (מִלָּה is itself a word; קָצָר is a short word). A heterological word does not (most words). The pair was coined in German by philosophers Kurt Grelling and Leonard Nelson in 1908: autologisch / heterologisch, from Greek autos ("self") and heteros ("other") + logos ("word"). The word "heterological" generates the Grelling-Nelson paradox: if it is heterological, it describes itself and is therefore autological; if it is autological, it does not describe itself and is therefore heterological.

רֶטְרוֹנִים (retronyms): New names coined for old things that needed to be distinguished from newer versions. "Landline telephone" is a retronym — before mobile phones, it was just "telephone." "Acoustic guitar" is a retronym — before electric guitars existed, there was just "guitar." The term Retronym was coined by American journalist Frank Mankiewicz in 1980, from Latin retro ("backward, before") + Greek onoma ("name").

Key Quotes

"פָּלִינְדְּרוֹם היא מילה שסדר האותיות בה זהה קדימה ואחורה" — אילון גלעד

Timeline

• Aristotle: coins ὁμώνυμος (homonumos), ancestor of "homonym"
• 1638: Henry Peacham coins "palindrome" in The Truth of Our Times
• 1824: Champollion coins "homophone" in French
• Late 19th century: "heteronym" appears in English
• 1908: Grelling and Nelson coin autologisch/heterologisch in German
• 1965: Dmitri Borgmann coins "semordnilap" and "isogram" in Language on Vacation
• 1970s: "heterogram" displaces "isogram" as preferred term
• 1980: Frank Mankiewicz coins "retronym" in English

Related Words

• גַּג — roof (a Hebrew palindrome)
• מַיִם — water (a Hebrew palindrome)
• הוֹמוֹנִים — homonyms
• הוֹמוֹפוֹנִים — homophones
• אוֹנוֹמָטוֹפֵּאָה — onomatopoeia