Acrostic

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈkɹɒstɪk/

Definitions

1. A literary construct wherein the initial characters of each line, when read vertically, collectively reveal a significant word or phrase
2. An arrangement of verses designed so that the first letters of each line come together to form a particular word or message
3. A type of poem or puzzle that uses the first letters of successive lines to spell out a word or phrase when read vertically

Etymology: The most striking thing about "acrostic" is that its Greek ancestor was a poet's term for a line of verse. "Akrostikhis" joined "akros", meaning extremity or tip, with "stikhos", a row of soldiers or a line of poetry, and the sense was literal: the letters at the ends of the lines, read downward, spelled out a name or message. The Greek "stikhos" is itself ultimately linked to a root meaning "to climb or go", so the idea of a line of verse began as a file or march. The word reached English through Middle French "acrostiche" and Late Latin "acrostichis", which carried the Greek form across Europe largely unchanged in meaning. Its English use as a noun for the verse puzzle itself, rather than the adjective describing such verse, followed that same path of borrowing.

Synonyms: poem, riddle, cipher, puzzle, wordplay