| palindrome |
| Definition: A word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards. |
| Example:
(1) the word bob (2) the sentence Able was I ere I saw Elba |
| Etymology: The word derives from the Greek palindromos, a recurrence (literally: a running back). This in turn derives from the Greek palin, again or back + dromos, a running. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: Its first OED citation is from circa 1629: "Had I … weav'd fifty tomes Of Logogriphes, or curious Pallindromes." (B. Jonson Underwoods, Execr. upon Vulcan (1640) Bjb,) |