Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

semordnilap

/səˈmɔːɹdnɪlæp/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
se-mord-ni-lap
IPA
/səˈmɔːɹdnɪlæp/
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
11
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A word, phrase, or sentence that has the property of forming another word, phrase, or sentence when its letters are reversed. A semordnilap differs from a palindrome in that the word or phrase resulting from the reversal is different from the original word or phrase.

Example Sentences

Etymology

A reverse spelling of palindromes. "Semordnilap", according to author O. V. Michaelsen in his 1997 book Words at Play, was probably first used by recreational linguist Dmitri Borgmann, cited by Martin Gardner in the revised edition of Charles Carroll Bombaugh's Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature (1961) http://books.google.com/books?id=f4kNAQAAIAAJ&q=borgmann. The underlying concept (but not the term) is found at least as far back as Lewis Carroll's Sylvie and Bruno (1889). Semordnilap is also autological; that is, it is a self-describing word, as the word semordnilap is itself a semordnilap.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /səˈmɔːɹdnɪlæp/
  • British English: /səˈmɔːdnɪlæp/

Inflected Forms

semordnilaps (plural)

Synonyms

anadrome half-palindrome heteropalindrome reversgram reversible anagram semi-palindrome word reversal levidrome emordnilap antigram in which the meaning is necessarily negated but letters may be freely rearranged

Questions

How do you pronounce semordnilap?
The recorded pronunciation is /səˈmɔːɹdnɪlæp/.
What does semordnilap mean?
A word, phrase, or sentence that has the property of forming another word, phrase, or sentence when its letters are reversed. A semordnilap differs from a palindrome in that the word or phrase resulting from the reversal is different from the original word or phrase.
Where does semordnilap come from?
A reverse spelling of palindromes. "Semordnilap", according to author O. V. Michaelsen in his 1997 book Words at Play, was probably first used by recreational linguist Dmitri Borgmann, cited by Martin Gardner in the revised edition of Charles Carroll Bombaugh's Oddities and Curiosities of Words and Literature (1961) http://books.google.com/books?id=f4kNAQAAIAAJ&q=borgmann. The underlying concept (but not the term) is found at least as far back as Lewis Carroll's Sylvie and Bruno (1889). Semordnilap is also autological; that is, it is a self-describing word, as the word semordnilap is itself a semordnilap.

How to pronounce semordnilap

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “semordnilap”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/səˈmɔːɹdnɪlæp/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “semordnilap”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “semordnilap” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.