Acronym vs. Anagram — What's the Difference?

A word formed from the initial letters of a phrase.

A transformation of a word into another by interchanging its letters.

A condensation of a series of words into a single term using their initials.

A lexical recreation by shuffling the letters of a word.

A representation of a name or term by using its initials.

A rearrangement of letters to form different words.

A shortened form of a phrase using initial letters.

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word anagram itself can be rearranged into nag a ram, also the word binary into brainy and the word adobe into abode.

An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase, usually using individual initial letters, as in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or EU (European Union), but sometimes using syllables, as in Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg), or a mixture of the two, as in radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging). Similarly, acronyms are sometimes pronounced as words, as in NASA or UNESCO, sometimes as the individual letters, as in FBI or ATM, or a mixture of the two, as in JPEG or IUPAC. The broader sense of acronym inclusive of terms pronounced as the individual letters (such as "TNT") is sometimes criticized, but it is the term's original meaning and is in common use.

A word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another, such as spar, formed from rasp.

An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA).

A word or phrase formed by reordering the letters of another word or phrase, such as satin to stain.

A word formed by combining the initial letters of a multipart name, such as NATO from North Atlantic Treaty Organization or by combining the initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar from radio detecting and ranging.

Anagrams (used with a sing. verb) A game in which players form words from a group of randomly picked letters.

Usage Problem An initialism.

(of words) A word or phrase that is created by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

(linguistics) An abbreviation formed by the initial letters of other words, sometimes exclusively such abbreviations when pronounced as a word (as "laser") rather than as individual letters (initialisms such as "TNT").

To form anagrams.

(linguistics) An abbreviation formed by the beginning letters or syllables of other words (as "Benelux").

Literally, the letters of a word read backwards, but in its usual wider sense, the change of one word or phrase into another by the transposition of its letters. Thus Galenus becomes angelus; William Noy (attorney-general to Charles I., and a laborious man) may be turned into I moyl in law.

To form into an acronym.

To anagrammatize.

A word formed from the initial letters of a multi-word name

A word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase

An abbreviation consisting of the first letters of each word.

Read letters out of order to discover a hidden meaning

A word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another.

A wordplay where letters are shuffled to create a new term.

Not necessarily, but they often form real words or phrases.

A word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

An acronym is pronounced as a word, while abbreviations might not be.

No, phrases can also be turned into anagrams.

Traditionally, no. Acronyms are from initial letters, but some modern usages might vary.

Yes, some people excel in spotting and creating anagrams.

An abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word.

To simplify long terms or names for easy reference.

Not necessarily; context dictates their formality.

No, but many do for simplicity.

Most can, but not all will form meaningful results.

Yes, like RADAR which stands for "Radio Detection And Ranging."

"A decimal point" is an anagram for "I'm a dot in place."

Yes, they're often used in puzzles, literature, and games.

By rearranging the letters of a word or phrase.

"LASER" stands for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation."