PALINDROMEis a word, phrase, number,

or other sequence of symbols or elements,

whose meaning may be interpreted the same way

in either forward or reverse direction.

History

Palindromes date back at least to 79 AD, as a palindrome was found as a graffito at Herculaneum, a city buried by ash in that year. This palindrome, called the Sator Square, consists of a sentence written in Latin: "Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas" ("The sower Arepo holds with effort the wheels").

English Palindromic Words

12 letters

tattarrattat– the longest palindrome in the Oxford English Dictionary, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses for a knock on the door

11 letters

aibohphobia – a joke word meaning "fear of palindromes", deliberately constructed so as to be one (various other words have been contrived along these lines, such as ailihphilia, a love of palindromes, elihphile, a lover of palindromes, etc.)

detartrated – past tense of “to detartrate”, a chemical term meaning to remove tartrates; alternatively an adjective indicating that tartrates have indeed been removed (this is the longest English palindrome in the Guinness Book of Records, though it is not listed in dictionaries; it is, however, encountered in some discussions of Concord grape juice )

kinnikinnik – variant (or common misspelling) of kinnikinnick, a Native American smoking mixture

Nine letters

deleveled - something that goes out of level evitative – a grammatical case indicating fear

or aversion Malayalam – a language of South India redivider – someone or something

that redivides (tied for longest "real" palindrome that is not a proper noun and that appears in English dictionaries)

releveler – (American spelling) someone or something that levels again (tied for longest "real" palindrome that is not a proper noun and that appears in English dictionaries).

Rotavator – a type of machine for breaking up soil (trademark)

Seven letters

Adinida– a suborder of planktonic organisms deified – past tense of "to deify", meaning to

consider as a god Hagigah murdrum – in old English law, a secret killing Nauruan – the language spoken in Nauru peeweep – a type of bird, often understood to be

a lapwing racecar – a racing car Reifier – someone who reifies (considers an

abstract concept to be real) repaper – to cover again with paper

reviver – someone or something that revives or restores

rotator – a thing that rotates seities – plural of seity, the essence of an

individual sememes – plural of sememe, the

interpretation given to a morpheme (a language unit)

Senones – an ancient people who lived in part of what is now France

SIXAXIS – the name of the official PlayStation 3 controller

Soosoos – plural of soosoo, a type of dolphin Zerorez - Registered trademark for a carpet

cleaning system (from Zero residue)

Six letters

degged - past tense of to deg, meaning to water a plant

denned – past tense of to den, meaning to live in a den

hallah – a variant of challah, a type of bread traditionally eaten by Jews

Hannah - a female given name mallam – in West Africa, a learned man marram – a type of grass pip-pip – an old-fashioned British word for

good-bye pull-up or pullup – an exercise in which one

pulls oneself up by the arms redder – more red

renner – an archaic variant of runner revver – someone or something that revs (an

engine) selles – plural of selle, an archaic word for a saddle sesses – plural or third-person present tense

of sess, an archaic word for tax (a variant of assess) succus – any of various liquids excreted by animals

or plants Terret – a metal ring on a harness, through which

the reins pass tirrit – according to Webster’s Dictionary (1913): "A

word from the vocabulary of Mrs. Quickly, the hostess in Shakespeare’s Henry IV., probably meaning terror"

tut-tut – a disapproving sound; to make such a sound

Five letters alala – a type of Hawaiian crow alula – a structure forming part of a bird’s

wing arara – a type of Australian cockatoo; also a

Brazilian macaw civic – relating to a city Debed – to remove someone from a bed deked – past tense of "to deke", meaning to

deceive (especially in ice hockey) deled – past tense of "to dele", meaning to

delete (a passage of text) dered – past tense of "to dere", an archaic

word meaning to harm

Dewed – past tense of "to dew", meaning to cover with dew

dexed – past tense of "to dex", meaning to drink robotussin

Hamah – variant of Hama, a city in Syria Igigi – a class of Sumerian gods irori - traditional Japanese sunken fireplace kaiak – variant of kayak Kanak – a native of New Caledonia; also, short

for Kanakaole i.e. Hawaiian surname kayak – a light Inuit canoe Kazak – a member of a people inhabiting the

central Asian republic of Kazakhstan; their language

kelek – a type of raft used in the Middle East level – various common meanings Liril – a cosmetic soap popular in India madam – a polite form of address for a woman minim – a musical note having half the

duration of a full note neven – "To name; to mention; to utter. [Obs.]"

(definition from Webster’s Dictionary, 1913) put-up – deceitful, as in a put-up job radar – a method of detecting objects using

radio waves (acronym from Radio Detection And Ranging, so it’s self-defining too - i. e., the word "bounces back" like a radar signal)

refer – various common meanings

rotor – something that rotates sagas – plural of saga, a long narrative

story semes – plural of seme, a linguistic element seres – plural of sere, a series of stages of

ecological development sexes – plural of sex shahs – plural of shah, a former name for

the king of Iran Sinis – variant of siris (q.v.) siris – a type of tree; (with cap.) a figure in

Greek mythology solos – plural of solo

stats – contraction of statistics stets – third-person present tense of

"to stet", meaning to indicate that a passage of text should remain unchanged

stots – third-person present tense of "to stot", meaning to leap or bounce

sulus – plural of sulu, a type of sarong Susus – plural of Susu, a member of a

West African people tenet – a belief or principle

Four letters

adda – a type of lizard; Adda – a river in Italy; a river in Wales affa – "A weight used on the Guinea

coast, equal to an ounce" (definition from Webster’s Dictionary, 1828)

anna – an Indian coin Anna – a girl’s name Beeb – an informal name for the BBC boob – a blunder; a breast deed – various common meanings

esse – existence or essence goog – an egg (Australian slang) immi – a Swiss unit of volume keek – to peep kook – a crazy person ma'am – a contraction of madam naan – a type of Indian bread noon – midday otto – variant of attar, an essential oil Otto - a proper name peep – various common meanings poop – a raised deck at the stern of a ship; various

other meanings sees – third-person present tense of ‘to see’ toot – the sound made by a horn or whistle

Three letters

aba – a fabric woven of the hair of camels or goats aga – title for a civil or military leader, especially in

Turkey aha – used to express surprise, pleasure or triumph ala – a wing or winglike structure or part ama – a housemaid, especially a wet nurse, in India

and the Far East ana – a collection of various materials that reflect

the character of a person or place, e.g. "early 1900’s Americana"

Ara – a star constellation; a genus of macaws

ava – a species of Macropiper (M. methysticum), the long pepper, from the root of which an intoxicating beverage is made by the Polynesians

Ava - a girl's name awa – away (Official Scrabble Players Dictionary) bib – a piece of cloth or plastic secured under

the chin and worn, especially by small children, to protect the clothing while eating

bob – to float on the surface of water Bob – shortened form of Robert, a boy’s name bub – used as a term of familiar address,

especially for a man or boy ('See you around, bub.’)

dad – father did – past tense of the verb "do"

dud – something that doesn't work or succeed eke – to obtain by great effort eme – a distinctive unit of linguistic structure ere – before (archaic or poetic) eve – the period immediately preceding a

certain event Eve – a girl’s name ewe – a female sheep (ovine) eye – the usual organ of sight gag – something forced into or put over the

mouth to prevent speaking or crying out; the act or an instance of gagging or choking

gig – a music event; also, a light two-wheeled carriage

gog – roof, covering hah – a variation of "Ha!" heh – used to express contempt; part of a snigger

("heh-heh") huh – used to express interrogation, surprise,

contempt or indifference mim – demure mom – mother (American) mum – mother (British); a reference to silence

(usually with "keep"; British) nan – a variation of "nanny" non – a prefix meaning "not" or "against" nun – a female clergyman who practices celibacy oho – used to express surprise, comprehension, or

mock astonishment

omo – prefix; shoulder: omohyoid; also, a brand of washing powder sometimes used as the generic term for all washing powder

ono – "grief or strength or iniquity of him" (Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary)

oxo – oxime pap – a food made with warm milk and crumbled

bread pep – energy and high spirits pip – a seed; also, to get the better of pop – a cola; also, to burst pup – the young of any of various mammals sis – shortened form of "sister" sos – plural of "so", the fifth tone of the diatonic

scale in music tat – tattoo

tet – the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet

tit – a small bird (British); a breast (slang)

tot – a small child; a small quantity of liquid

tut – used to express annoyance, impatience or mild reproof ("Tut, tut, child!")

wow – used to express amazement yay – used to express happiness/delight zzz – the sound of snoring

Two letters

aa – lava having a rough surface (pron. a’a’)

ee – an extinct Hawaiian bird (pron. e’e’) mm – used to express satisfaction oo – a rare Hawaiian bird (pronounced

"oh-oh"); also a Scottish word for "wool"; also "one" (obs. Chaucerian English)

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome

Gallego, Xer C.BSIT – 1A

Submitted to:Ms. Pinky Gallano