English - English
Definition of acrostics in English English dictionary
- plural of acrostic
- acrostic
- A particular kind of word puzzle: its solutions form an anagram of a quotation, and their initials often form its author
- acrostic
- {n} a kind of poem whose initial letters form the name of some person or thing
- acrostic
- An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message
- Acrostic
- a puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as across
- Acrostic
- A poem in which the first or last letters of each line vertically form a word, phrase, or sentence Apart from puzzles in newspapers and magazines, the most common modern versions involve the first letters of each line forming a single word when read downwards An acrostic that involves the sequential letters of the alphabet is said to be abededarian
- Acrostic
- a word, phrase, or passage spelled out vertically by the first letters of a group of lines in sequence Sir John Davies' Hymnes of Astraea dedicates 26 acrostic poems to Elizabeth I Edgar Allan Poe's "Enigma" provides another example Samuel Johnson's great dictionary (1755) quotes John Dryden: Leave writing plays, and choose for thy command Some peaceful province in acrostick land: There thou may'st wings display, and altars raise, And torture one poor word ten thousand ways See also telestich
- Acrostic
- verse in which certain letters such as the first in each line form a word or message
- Acrostic
- A series of poetic lines or verses whose initial letters form the alphabet, a word, or a regular pattern, as in Lamentations 1-4, Psalms 111, 112, and 119 See Chapter 16
- Acrostic
- telestich
- acrostic
- Pertaining to, or characterized by, acrostics
- acrostic
- A composition, usually in verse, in which the first or the last letters of the lines, or certain other letters, taken in order, form a name, word, phrase, or motto
- acrostic
- a poem or piece of writing in which the first or last letter of each line spells a word (acrostiche, from akrostichis, from akr- ( ACRONYM) + stichos ). Originally, a short verse composition, constructed so that one or more sets of letters (such as the initial, middle, or final letters of the lines), taken consecutively, form words. An acrostic in which the initial letters form the alphabet is called an abecedarius. Ancient Greek and Latin writers, medieval monks, and Renaissance poets are among those who devised acrostics. Today the term is used for a type of word puzzle utilizing the acrostic principle. A popular form is double acrostics, puzzles constructed so that the middle or last, as well as initial, letters of lines may form words
- acrostic
- {i} composition in which the initial or ending letters form a word or phrase
- acrostic
- A Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order as Psalm cxix
- acrostic
- {s} of an acrostic, pertaining to a composition in which the initial or ending letters form a word or phrase
- acrostic
- A poem or other text in which certain letters, often the first in each line, spell out a name or message