What is a Palindrome?

What is a Palindrome?

At their most basic, palindromes are any string of letters, numbers, or even notes of music) that is the same forward as it is backward. Palindromes can be exact, character-by-character (like the word “racecar”), or they can include (or ignore) spaces and punctuation (such as “Never odd or even”).

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Early examples of palindromes can be traced back to ancient Greece. The earliest-known English-language palindrome was written by poet John Taylor in 1614: “Lewd did I live & evil did I dwel.”¹ Note the clever use of an ampersand instead of “and” written out and a long-since-changed spelling of the word “dwell.”

Different Palindrome Types & Examples

There are plenty of approaches to palindromes. Let’s explore some of the ways palindromes appear or can be used in your writing.

Single-Word or Character-Unit Palindromes

Arguably the most common palindrome, single-word palindromes are exactly that: Words that are spelled the same forward and backward. In a fantastic example of irony, the word for fear of palindromes is “aibohphobia”—itself a palindrome.² Many names are also palindromes. Common examples of single-word palindromes include:

• Wow
• Mom or Dad
• Rotator
• Kayak
• Hannah or Anna
• Bob

Multi-Word Palindromes

Multi-word palindromes are created by stringing together more than one word while not creating a complete sentence, such as “taco cat” or “top spot” or “my gym.”

Palindrome Sentences

A sentence that, letter by letter, is the same forward and backward is a palindrome sentence:

• Red rum, sir, is murder.
• Borrow or rob?
• A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.

You can also achieve a palindrome sentence by using words in the same order forward and backward:

• Did I say you ‘never say never?’ You say I did.

There are also palindrome sentences that are both spelled the same forward and backward and use the same order of words forward and backward:

• I did, did I?

Numeric Palindromes

As the name suggests, numeric palindromes are strings of numbers that read the same forward and backward.

Music Palindromes

Music can have palindromes too! Notes can be palindromic, such as in Bach’s Crab Canon³, and so can lyrics, such as “I Palindrome I” by They Might Be Giants.⁴

Playing with language can be a fun way to pass the time, test your verbal mettle, or spice up your creative writing or journaling practice . Try creating your own palindromes as a writing prompt the next time you’re fighting against writer’s block .