Palindrome: Meaning, Definition and Examples

Palindrome (Gk meaning ‘running back again’) is a word, number or sentence which reads the same both ways. Common words are: civic, level, minim, radar, rotor, madam, refer, wow, noon, etc. Examples of Palindrome numbers are 1881, 1221, 2002, 232,464, etc.

Famous examples of such phrases or sentences are:

  • ‘Madam, I’m Adam’, to which the reply was ‘Sir, I’m Iris’;
  • Able was I ere I saw Elba
  • Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus;
  • A man, a plan, a canal – Panama!;
  • Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts!;
  • ‘Deliver desserts’, demanded Nemesis, emended, named, stressed, reviled; (h)
  • Eva, can I see bees in a cave?
  • Was it a cat I saw?

The best-known collection of verses was that produced by one Ambrose Pampers in 1802. It consists of 416 palindromic verses recounting the campaigns of Catherine the Great.

Also read; A short note on Unanimisme, French poetic movement

Also read; Malapropism: Definition, Meaning and Examples of Malapropism