AnagramAn anagram (Greek ana-, "back", and grafein, "to write")
is the result of transposing the letters of a word or words in
such a manner as to produce other words that possess meaning.
The meaning of the new word so created is seen in the context of
or in contrast to that of the old word so as to create humorous
or interesting associations between the two. Anagrams are a type
of constrained writing. The construction of anagrams is an
amusement of great antiquity, its invention being ascribed
without authority to the Jews, probably because the later Hebrew
writers, particularly the Kabbalists, were fond of it, asserting
that "secret mysteries are woven in the numbers of letters."
Anagrams were known to the Greekss and also to the Romanss,
although the known Latin examples of words of more than one
syllable are nearly all imperfect. They were popular throughout
Europe during the Middle Ages and later, particularly in France,
where a certain Thomas Billon was appointed "anagrammatist to
the king" by Louis XI