"ambigram" meaning in English

See ambigram in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: ambigrams [plural]
Etymology: From ambi- + -gram. Coined by Douglas Hofstadter. Etymology templates: {{affix|en|ambi-|-gram}} ambi- + -gram, {{coin|en|Douglas Hofstadter}} Coined by Douglas Hofstadter Head templates: {{en-noun}} ambigram (plural ambigrams)
  1. A calligraphic design that may be read as the same word or phrase (or sometimes different words or phrases) when oriented in two different ways, usually when reflected along a vertical or horizontal axis or when rotated through 180 degrees. Wikipedia link: ambigram Categories (topical): Shapes, Writing Translations (design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations): 雙面語 (Chinese Mandarin), 双面语 (shuāngmiànyǔ) (Chinese Mandarin), ambigram [masculine] (Czech), ambigram (Danish), ambigram (Dutch), ambigrammi (Finnish), ambigramme [masculine] (French), Ambigramm [neuter] (German), אמביגראמה (ambigrama) [feminine] (Hebrew), ambigramma [masculine] (Italian), ambigrama (Lithuanian), Ambigramm (Luxembourgish), ambigram (Norwegian), ambigram [masculine] (Polish), ambigrama [masculine] (Portuguese), амбигра́мма (ambigrámma) [feminine] (Russian), ambigram [masculine] (Slovene), ambigrama [masculine] (Spanish), ambigram (Swedish), ambigram (Turkish)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for ambigram meaning in English (6.1kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ambi-",
        "3": "-gram"
      },
      "expansion": "ambi- + -gram",
      "name": "affix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Douglas Hofstadter"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined by Douglas Hofstadter",
      "name": "coin"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From ambi- + -gram. Coined by Douglas Hofstadter.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ambigrams",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ambigram (plural ambigrams)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with ambi-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -gram",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Rotation",
          "orig": "en:Rotation",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Shapes",
          "orig": "en:Shapes",
          "parents": [
            "Geometry",
            "Mathematics",
            "Formal sciences",
            "Sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Writing",
          "orig": "en:Writing",
          "parents": [
            "Human behaviour",
            "Language",
            "Human",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992, John Langdon, Wordplay, published 2005, page 52",
          "text": "Two nonvisual factors provide dissymmetry and prevent the ambigram from existing in a static equilibrium; most of the letters in an ambigram metamorphose into other letters when reversed; and each of those accompanying sentences provides a different idea of the word's meaning.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "1997, Research and Education Networking, Volume 8, Issues 1-6, page 290,\nAn ambigram is a word that reads the same right-side-up and upside-down. MOW is a natural ambigram, for instance, but any word can be flipped if the right graphic artist gets his hands on it."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Douglas Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop, page 312",
          "text": "Next, I imagine that Switch #2 causes me every single weekend (and every other spare moment as well) to elect, instead of designing ambigrams or working hard on my book about being a strange loop, to spend hours on end watching professional football games on a huge-screen television and delightedly ogling all the busty babes in the beer ads.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A calligraphic design that may be read as the same word or phrase (or sometimes different words or phrases) when oriented in two different ways, usually when reflected along a vertical or horizontal axis or when rotated through 180 degrees."
      ],
      "id": "en-ambigram-en-noun-ggcO9Btz",
      "links": [
        [
          "calligraphic",
          "calligraphic"
        ],
        [
          "design",
          "design"
        ],
        [
          "orient",
          "orient"
        ],
        [
          "reflect",
          "reflect"
        ],
        [
          "axis",
          "axis"
        ],
        [
          "rotate",
          "rotate"
        ],
        [
          "degree",
          "degree"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "雙面語"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "shuāngmiànyǔ",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "双面语"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ambigram"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "ambigram"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "ambigram"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "ambigrammi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ambigramme"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Ambigramm"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "ambigrama",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "אמביגראמה"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ambigramma"
        },
        {
          "code": "lt",
          "lang": "Lithuanian",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "ambigrama"
        },
        {
          "code": "lb",
          "lang": "Luxembourgish",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "Ambigramm"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "ambigram"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ambigram"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ambigrama"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ambigrámma",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "амбигра́мма"
        },
        {
          "code": "sl",
          "lang": "Slovene",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ambigram"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ambigrama"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "ambigram"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
          "word": "ambigram"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "ambigram"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ambigram"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ambi-",
        "3": "-gram"
      },
      "expansion": "ambi- + -gram",
      "name": "affix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Douglas Hofstadter"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined by Douglas Hofstadter",
      "name": "coin"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From ambi- + -gram. Coined by Douglas Hofstadter.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ambigrams",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ambigram (plural ambigrams)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English coinages",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms coined by Douglas Hofstadter",
        "English terms prefixed with ambi-",
        "English terms suffixed with -gram",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Rotation",
        "en:Shapes",
        "en:Writing"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992, John Langdon, Wordplay, published 2005, page 52",
          "text": "Two nonvisual factors provide dissymmetry and prevent the ambigram from existing in a static equilibrium; most of the letters in an ambigram metamorphose into other letters when reversed; and each of those accompanying sentences provides a different idea of the word's meaning.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "1997, Research and Education Networking, Volume 8, Issues 1-6, page 290,\nAn ambigram is a word that reads the same right-side-up and upside-down. MOW is a natural ambigram, for instance, but any word can be flipped if the right graphic artist gets his hands on it."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Douglas Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop, page 312",
          "text": "Next, I imagine that Switch #2 causes me every single weekend (and every other spare moment as well) to elect, instead of designing ambigrams or working hard on my book about being a strange loop, to spend hours on end watching professional football games on a huge-screen television and delightedly ogling all the busty babes in the beer ads.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A calligraphic design that may be read as the same word or phrase (or sometimes different words or phrases) when oriented in two different ways, usually when reflected along a vertical or horizontal axis or when rotated through 180 degrees."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "calligraphic",
          "calligraphic"
        ],
        [
          "design",
          "design"
        ],
        [
          "orient",
          "orient"
        ],
        [
          "reflect",
          "reflect"
        ],
        [
          "axis",
          "axis"
        ],
        [
          "rotate",
          "rotate"
        ],
        [
          "degree",
          "degree"
        ]
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "ambigram"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "雙面語"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "shuāngmiànyǔ",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "双面语"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ambigram"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "ambigram"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "ambigram"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "ambigrammi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ambigramme"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Ambigramm"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "ambigrama",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "אמביגראמה"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ambigramma"
    },
    {
      "code": "lt",
      "lang": "Lithuanian",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "ambigrama"
    },
    {
      "code": "lb",
      "lang": "Luxembourgish",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "Ambigramm"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "ambigram"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ambigram"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ambigrama"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ambigrámma",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "амбигра́мма"
    },
    {
      "code": "sl",
      "lang": "Slovene",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ambigram"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ambigrama"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "ambigram"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "design that reads as the same word or phrase in two different orientations",
      "word": "ambigram"
    }
  ],
  "word": "ambigram"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.