ambigram

PRONUNCIATION:

(AM-bi-gram) 

 

MEANING:

noun: A word or phrase written in a manner that it reads the same (sometimes, a different word or phrase) when oriented in a different way, for example, when reflected or rotated.

 

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin ambi- (both) + -gram (something written). Earliest documented use: 1985.

 

USAGE:

"Come In & Go Away Doormat. This fun and clever graphic uses an ambigram to greet and dismiss your visiting guests: ‘come in’ on arrival ‘go away’ when leaving.”
 Wipe Your Feet in Style This Winter; The Kent and Sussex Courier (Tunbridge Wells, UK); Oct 4, 2013.

 

 "Toryn Green already had his first Fuel album commemorated with an ambigram tattoo -- in one direction it reads ‘angel’ and in the other direction it reads ‘devil’.”
 Sarah Henning; Driven to Succeed; Anchorage Daily News (Alaska); Dec 16, 2007.