What Is a Palindrome?
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
What Is a Palindrome?
Some people may see or hear the word palindrome and wonder what it is.
A palindrome is a word, a phrase, or a sequence of words that read the same way in either direction, as with madam, don’t nod, and Eva, can I see bees in a cave? A palindrome can include spaces and punctuation.
The word comes from the Greek palindromos (“running back again”; palin “back,” dromos “direction”). Its original meaning applied to the backward movement of a crab.
Sources suggest different dates of the word’s earliest use, but they seem to agree that it appeared sometime between the first and third centuries A.D. It is cited as having been introduced into English in the seventeenth century by a British poet and writer.
Some of the most common palindromes are character units that form the same word front to back and back to front.
Examples
| level | pop | radar |
| civic | refer | solos |
| noon | gig | stats |
| kayak | rotator | sagas |
| racecar | tenet | wow |
You’ll also find palindromes as multi-word phrases.
Examples
| my gym | a nut for a jar of tuna |
| top spot | drawer as a reward |
| no lemon, no melon | no trace; not one carton |
| a man, a plan, a canal—Panama! | so many dynamos |
| never odd or even | too hot to hoot |
The marvel of palindromes reveals itself most when they extend into full sentences.
Examples
| Step on no pets. | Mr. Owl ate my metal worm. |
| Do geese see God? | Some men interpret nine memos. |
| Bombard a drab mob. | Marge lets Norah see Sharon’s telegram. |
| Too bad—I hid a boot. | Gateman sees name; garageman sees nametag. |
| Was it a car or a cat I saw? | Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? |
The longest palindromic sentence on record contains 21,012 words (a number that is itself a palindrome). The designer, Peter Norvig, released it at 20:02 (U.S. military time) on 02/20/2002.
Pop Quiz
Now that you know what a palindrome is, identify which of the following sentences are palindromes.
1. I ran the can all the way to the van.
2. No, it can; as it is, it is a war. Raw as it is; it is an action.
3. Adam, I am the madam who will help you find your way from Ada.
4. Sir, I demand, I am a maid named Iris.
5. No, it is open on one position.
Pop Quiz Answers
2. No, it can; as it is, it is a war. Raw as it is; it is an action.
4. Sir, I demand, I am a maid named Iris.
5. No, it is open on one position.
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
Is there a term for a palindrome that reads differently forward and backward? Like “ten” and “net.”
Ten and net are not palindromes. Some people refer to a word that reads as another word when spelled backward as an “Emordnilap” (backward palindrome), although the word is not listed in any dictionaries we checked.
“Madam, don’t nod” is NOT a palindrome… “Don’t nod, madam, don’t nod” is. Love reading all your stuff!
It seems you misread the sentence. We were referring to three palindromes: 1) madam, 2) don’t nod, and 3) Eva, can I see bees in a cave. We are however glad that the article got you thinking more closely about palindromes.
You omitted my favorite one: Able was I ere I saw Elba (attributed to Napoleon). Thanks, this was fun.
What a pity Peter Norvig didn’t use the English date form day/month/year to make the release date and time a palindrome too. (20:02 on 20/02/2002)
That’s a good observation. Mr. Norvig did intentionally release the palindrome at a palindromic moment: 20:02 02/20 2002 (military time in the US) and 20:02 20/02 2002 (time format in the rest of the world).
My favorite is “A man, a plan, a canal, Panama.”