Palindromes Defined: 9 Types of Palindromes

A palindrome is a type of wordplay involving words, phrases, or sentences that read the same backward and forward. The word “palindrome” comes from the Greek word “palindromos,” which is a combination of two Greek words: “palin,” which means “back” or “again,” and “dromos” meaning “route” or “road.”

There are many types of palindromes, which can involve numbers, dates, names, and even music. Many palindromes are humorous, such as “Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts.” Others tell a story or depict a scene (“Too bad—I hid a boot”), while others approach poetry: “Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?”

Palindromes have existed for centuries. One of the earliest examples, an acrostic called Sator Square, dates back to 79 AD but more recently appeared as a plot point in Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s 2020 film. Most early palindromes were in Greek or Latin. Poet John Taylor penned the first English-language palindrome—“Lewd did I live & evil did I dwel”—in 1614.

Some of the best-known examples of palindromes include:

1. 1. Character-unit palindromes: Single words that read the same backward and forward, such as “racecar,” “kayak,” “repaper,” “redder,” or “tenet,” are character-unit palindromes. They are the most common palindromic examples to English-language speakers. “Aibohphobia” is a word that refers to “a fear of palindromes,” and it’s also a character-unit palindrome.
2. 2. Line palindromes: Also known as line-unit palindromes, these poems usually have an initial set of lines that reverse order halfway through the piece without changing the word order within the line.
3. 3. Musical palindromes: Certain musical compositions are also palindromic. For example, Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 47 features a minuet and a trio in its third movement. The second halves of the minuet and trio are identical to the first halves but backward, and the minuet itself repeats at the end of its second half.
4. 4. Name palindromes: There are many notable palindromic first names, such as Hannah, Eve, Bob, and Otto. Some individuals have palindromic first and last names, like flamenco dancer Sara Baras. There are also palindromic band names, like Abba, a Swedish pop group.
5. 5. Numeric palindromes: Numbers can be palindromes if the digits read the same backward and forward, such as 10101. Dates, too, can be palindromes. February 2, 2020, is officially known as “Universal Palindrome Day” because the digits form a palindrome regardless of date format (day/month/year or month/day/year).
6. 6. Palindrome poetry: Palindrome poems use line palindromes within a poetic form. They begin with an initial poem and then feature a line at the halfway mark that reverses the rest of the lines in order. The unique structure of palindrome poetry gives it the alternate name “mirrored poetry.”
7. 7. Palindrome sentences: These take the form of complete sentences with a subject, verb, and predicate. While punctuation and capitalization are not necessary to form palindrome sentences, some examples include punctuation, like “Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog.”
8. 8. Semordnilap: Words that form a new word when you spell them backward are called semordnilap, which is also a reverse spelling of “palindromes.” Examples include “stressed,” which is “desserts” backward. Some semordnilaps are deliberate creations, like “mho,” which backward is “ohm”—a unit of electrical resistance.
9. 9. Word-unit palindromes: Phrases, sentences, or groups of words that appear in identical order when viewed forward or backward are word-unit palindromes. A word-unit palindrome in phrase form is “Murder for a jar of red rum.” A sentence-form palindrome is, “Did I say ‘you never say never’? You say I did.”

There are many palindrome examples. Some of the most notable include:

1. 1. Famous palindromes: Certain palindromes are enduring figures of speech. Some of the best-known palindromes include “Madam, I’m Adam,” “A man, a plan, a canal—Panama,” and “Able was I ere I saw Elba” (which some incorrectly attribute to Napoleon Bonaparte).
2. 2. Long palindromes: Some of the longest palindromes in the English language are “tattarrattat,” an onomatopoeic word author James Joyce created for his 1922 novel Ulysses, and “detartrated,” a past tense verb for a chemical term concerning removing tartrates, or acids. Other long palindromes include “Malayalam,” which is a language people speak in southern India, and “saippuakivikauppias,” a Finnish word for “soapstone vendor.”
3. 3. Newer palindromes: Palindromes remain fresh, creative, and relevant, with new examples surfacing regularly. “Taco cat” is a recent palindrome popular in pop culture circles, most notably as a T-shirt icon and a card game. Comedian and actor Demetri Martin also penned numerous palindromes, including a 224-word palindrome poem, “Dammit I’m Mad,” which features palindromes within its palindromic structure.

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