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anagram

[an-uh-gram]
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noun
  1. a word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters: “Angel” is an anagram of “glean.”
  2. anagrams, (used with a singular verb) a game in which the players build words by transposing and, often, adding letters.
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verb (used with object), an·a·grammed, an·a·gram·ming.
  1. to form (the letters of a text) into a secret message by rearranging them.
  2. to rearrange (the letters of a text) so as to discover a secret message.
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Origin of anagram

1580–90; probably < Middle French anagramme < New Latin anagramma. See ana-, -gram1
Related formsan·a·gram·mat·ic [an-uh-gruh-mat-ik] /ˌæn ə grəˈmæt ɪk/, an·a·gram·mat·i·cal, adjectivean·a·gram·mat·i·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for anagrams

anagram

noun
  1. a word or phrase the letters of which can be rearranged into another word or phrase
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Derived Formsanagrammatic (ˌænəɡrəˈmætɪk) or anagrammatical, adjectiveanagrammatically, adverb

Word Origin

C16: from New Latin anagramma, shortened from Greek anagrammatismos, from anagrammatizein to transpose letters, from ana- + gramma a letter
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for anagrams

anagram

n.

transposition of letters in a word so as to form another, 1580s, from French anagramme or Modern Latin anagramma (16c.), both from Greek anagrammatizein "transpose letters," from ana- "up, back" (see ana-) + gramma (genitive grammatos) "letter" (see grammar). Related: Anagrammatical; anagrammatically.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper