Acrostics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of poetry or puzzle where the first letters of each line or word when read vertically spell out a word or message
2. A creative form of writing in which a series of verses collectively reveal a hidden term by aligning initial letters vertically
3. An artistic arrangement of texts where the beginning letters of phrases or lines combine to form words or significant phrases when read from top to bottom

Etymology: Ancient Greek poets sometimes arranged a poem so that the first letters of its lines, read downward, spelled out a name or message. The Greek word for such a poem, "akrostichis," combined "akros," meaning "extreme" or "tip," with "stichos," meaning "row" or "line of verse." Its root idea is a line of soldiers marching, from the Indo-European base for climbing or going, so the literal sense is something like "the tip of the line." The word reached English by way of Middle French "acrostiche" and Late Latin "acrostichis," so it was a borrowing from classical scholarship rather than something that grew in everyday speech. The Greek sense had a clear physical meaning: the ends of the lines carried the hidden message, which is why the prefix points to the extremity of each verse.

Synonyms: poems, verses