acrostics-what is it?
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Jan 24 08:18:22 EST 2000
At 12:36 PM +0000 1/24/00, Maurice A. O'Sullivan wrote:
>At 05:34 24/01/00 -0600, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>>I don't know of a New Testament example either, but it is said that the
>>Greek word for "fish" , ICQUS, was an acrostic representing a credal
>>formula because each letter of this word in succession yielded the initial
>>letters of the five words of the creed about Jesus:
>
>
>Surely, Carl, this is more of an acronym than an acrostic?
>
>In an acroynmm _every_ letter stands for a word, whereas the various SOED
>definitions of an acrostic don't envisage _every_ letter being used.
>
>1 A poem or other composition in which the initial (single acrostic), the
>initial and final (double acrostic), or the initial, middle, and final
>(triple acrostic) letters of the lines make words. L16.b A word-puzzle so
>made. L19.<unknown>2 The beginning or end of a verse. E17M18.3 A poem in
>which the consecutive lines or verses begin with the successive letters of
>the alphabet. L17.B adj. Of the nature of or in the form of an acrostic. M17.
I stand corrected, as not infrequently, by Maurice O'Sullivan.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
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