Reverse dictionary

A reverse dictionary is a dictionary alphabetized by the reversal of each entry:

stock (kcots)

diestock (kcotseid)

restock (kcotser)

livestock (kcotsevil)

Before computers, reverse dictionaries were tedious to produce. The first computer-produced was Stahl and Scavnicky's A Reverse Dictionary of the Spanish Language, in 1974.^[1] The first computer-produced reverse dictionary for a single text was Wisbey, R., Vollständige Verskonkordanz zur Wiener Genesis. Mit einem rückläufigen Wörterbuch zum Formenbestand, Berlin, E. Schmidt, 1967.

In a reverse word dictionary, the entries are alphabetized by the last letter first, then next to last, and so on.^[1][2] In them, words with the same suffix appear together. This can be useful for linguists and poets looking for words ending with a particular suffix, or by an epigrapher or forensics specialist examining a damaged text (e.g. a stone inscription, or a burned document) that had only the final portion of a word. Reverse dictionaries of this type have been published for most major alphabetical languages.

Applications of reverse word dictionaries include:

• Simple rhyming dictionaries, to the extent that spelling predicts pronunciation.
• Finding words with a given suffix (i.e., meaningful ending), like -ment.
• Finding words with the same ending as a given word, even if the sequence is not meaningful.
• Setting or solving word puzzles, such as -gry or the earlier -dous puzzle (find words ending in some way), or crossword puzzles.

Reverse word dictionaries are straightforward to construct, by simply sorting based on reversed words. This was labor-intensive and tedious before computers, but is now straightforward. By the same token, reverse dictionaries have become less important since online word lists can be searched dynamically.

• Normal and Reverse Word List. Compiled under the direction of A. F. Brown at the University of Pennsylvania, under a contract with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AF 49 [638]-1042) Department of Linguistics, Philadelphia, 1963.
• Lehnert, Martin, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der englischen Gegenwartssprache, VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig, 1971.
• McGovern, Una, Chambers back-words for crosswords: a reverse-sorted list, Chambers, Edinburgh, 2002
• Muthmann, Gustav, Reverse English dictionary: based on phonological and morphological principles, Mouton de Gruyter, New York, 1999.
• Walker, John, The rhyming dictionary of the English language: in which the whole language is arranged according to its terminations, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1983.

• Hecker, Karl, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Akkadischen, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1990.

• Snoj, Marko, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der albanischen Sprache, Buske Verlag, Hamburg, 1994.

• Těšitelová, Marie; Petr, Jan; Králík, Jan. Retrográdní slovník současné češtiny, Praha, Academia, 1986.

• Nieuwborg, E.R., Retrograde woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal, Kluwer Technische Boeken, Deventer, 1978.

• Hinderling, Robert, Rückläufiges estnisches Wörterbuch = Eesti keele pöördsõnaraamat (Sõnalõpuline leksikon) = Reverse dictionary of the Estonian language, Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät der Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, 1979.

• Tuomi, Tuomo (ed.), Suomen kielen käänteissanakirja – Reverse Dictionary of Modern Standard Finnish, Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, 1980. ISBN 951-717-002-5.

• Juilland, A., Dictionnaire inverse de la langue française, Mouton, The Hague, 1965.

• Bruckner, T., Rückläufige Wortliste zum heutigen Deutsch, Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, 1986.
• Mater, Erich, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der deutschen Gegenwartssprache CD-ROM, Straelener Ms.-Verlag, Straelen, 2001 ISBN 3-89107-047-0
• Muthmann, Gustav, Rückläufiges deutsches Wörterbuch: Handbuch der Wortausgänge im Deutschen, mit Beachtung der Wort- und Lautstruktur, Niemeyer, Tübingen, 2001.

• Συμεωνίδης, Χ. Π., Αντίστροφο λεξικό της κυπριακής διαλέκτου. Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της κυπριακής διαλέκτου. Πρώτο μέρος. Τα δυσπρόσιτα της κυπριακής διαλέκτου, 2017

• Αναστασιάδη-Συμεωνίδη, Α. Αντίστροφο Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής. Θεσσαλονίκη: Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, 2002.
• Κουρμούλης Γ. Αντίστροφον λεξικόν της Νέας Ελληνικής. Δεύτερη Έκδοση. Αθήνα: Παπαδήμας, 2002.
• Τσιλογιάννης, Παύλος, Αντίστροφο λεξικό της νέας - αρχαίας Ελληνικής γλώσσας : με διάγραμμα ιστορίας της Ελληνικής γλώσσας και χρήσιμους πίνακες, 2000 (modern and ancient Greek)
• Μπαλαφούτης, Ευάγγελος, Αντίστροφο λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής γλώσσας, 1996
• Reverse dictionary in modern Greek, Βικιλεξικό (Greek Wiktionary)

• P. Kretchmer, E. Locker. Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der griechischen Sprache. Göttingen, 1944. 2nd ed. 1963
• C.D. Buck, W. Petersen. A Reverse Index of Greek Nouns and Adjectives. Chicago 1948 (?). Reprinted 1975
• F. Dornseiff, B. Hansen. Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen / Reverse-Lexicon of Greek Proper-Names. Berlin, 1957; Chicago 1978
• Τσιλογιάννης, Παύλος, Αντίστροφο λεξικό της νέας - αρχαίας Ελληνικής γλώσσας : με διάγραμμα ιστορίας της Ελληνικής γλώσσας και χρήσιμους πίνακες, 2000 (ancient and modern Greek)
• ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ:^[3] Dictionaries for ancient Greek and Latin, University of Chicago. (in every page / for every lemma, there is an index which can be either forward or reverse)
• Reverse dictionary in ancient Greek, Βικιλεξικό (Greek Wiktionary)

• Kuhn, Karl Georg, Rückläufiges hebräisches Wörterbuch, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1958

• Sander, Ruth and Kerstin Mayerhofer, Retrograde Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2010. ISBN 978-3-525-55007-6

• Papp, Ferenc, A magyar nyelv szóvégmutató szótára [Reverse-alphabetized dictionary of the Hungarian language]. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1969, 2nd ed.: 1994. ISBN 9630567326

• Alinei, M.L., Dizionario inverso italiano, con indici e liste di frequenza delle terminazioni, Mouton & Co., The Hague 1965.

• Gradenwitz, Otto, Laterculi vocum latinarum],^[4] Leipzig : S. Hirzel, 1904.
• ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ:^[3] Dictionaries for ancient Greek and Latin, University of Chicago. (in every page / for every lemma, there is an index which can be either forward or reverse)

• Mitrevski, George, Macedonian Reverse Dictionary = Македонски обратен речник.^[5]

• Rozycki, William, A reverse index of Manchu, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1981.

• Krueger, John Richard, Mongolian epigraphical dictionary in reverse listing, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1967.
• Vietze, Hans Peter, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der mongolischen Sprache, Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig, 1976.

• Reverse Russian Wiktionary
• Bielfeldt, H.H., Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der Russischen Sprache der Gegenwart, Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1958.
• Шевелева, М.С. et al. (ed.), Обратный словарь русского языка, Советская Энциклопедия, Москва, 1974.

• Schwarz, Wolfgang, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Altindischen = Reverse Dictionary of Old Indian, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1974–1978.

• Matešić, Josip, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Serbokroatischen, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1965–1967.
• Николић, Мирослав, Обратни речник српскога језика, Матица српска / САНУ / Палчић, Нови Сад / Београд, 2000.

• Garabík, Radovan et al., Retrográdny slovník súčasnej slovenčiny – slovné tvary na báze Slovenského národného korpusu, VEDA, vydavateľstvo SAV, Bratislava, 2018. ISBN 978-80-224-1699-3.
• Mistrík, Jozef, Retrográdny slovník slovenčiny, Univerzita Komenského, Bratislava, 1976. 735 pp.

• Hajnšek-Holz, Milena and Primož Jakopin, Odzadnji slovar slovenskega jezika po Slovarju slovenskega knjižnega jezika, ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana, 1996.

• Bosque, I., Pérez, M., Diccionario inverso de la lengua española, Gredos, Madrid, 1987.
• Stahl, Fred A., Scavnicky, Gary E. A., A Reverse Dictionary of the Spanish Language, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 1974.

• Kubiyak, Yel, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Türkischen, Landeck, Frankfurt, 2004.

• Zimmer, Stefan, A reverse dictionary of modern Welsh = Geiriadur gwrthdroadol Cymraeg diweddar, Buske, Hamburg, 1987.

• Reverse index