Anacronymy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A word created by reversing the letters or syllables of another word, so that its spelling or sound mirrors the original in backward sequence
2. A term constructed by taking the letters or sound units of an existing word and arranging them in reverse order
3. A word made by inverting the sequence of letters or syllables from another word, producing a mirror-image spelling or pronunciation

Etymology: "Anacronymy" is built from "acronym" and the Greek prefix "ana-", which meant "back" or "again" and appears in "anagram" too. An acronym takes its name from Greek "akros", meaning "tip" or "extreme", and "onyma", meaning "name", because it is formed from the initial letters of other words. The prefix points to the process the term describes: taking letters or sounds from an existing word and arranging them backward. The parts explain the meaning directly, so the term needs little beyond them.