A chronogram is a short piece of writing where letters represent numbers, often in Latin. The letters are highlighted to reveal a significant number, such as a year. They are commonly used on memorials and graves to indicate the year of death or construction.
A chronogram is a piece of writing, often as short as a single sentence, in which letters are used to denote a particular numerical value. This is typically done using a language where letters can be used to represent numbers, such as Roman numerals in writing that uses these digits. Various letters within a phrase or sentence are typically made to stand out, often through capitalization or boldface. When these letters in a chronogram are combined, usually through addition, they reveal a number that has some kind of significance to the placement or use of the phrase.
The term “chronogram” was formed through the prefix “chrono-” which is based on the Greek word for “time” and the root “-gram” which comes from the Greek for “letter”. It is often interpreted as “script of the time” and refers to the common practice of using these numbers to indicate a particular year. While different languages can be used to create a chronogram, many passages are written in Latin, since the letters used in Latin are also Roman numerals. Other languages with similar symbols, such as English and German, may also be used, as letters such as “X” and “M” still denote certain Roman numerals.
Examples of sentences that were written as a chronogram can be found in many parts of the world, although they have been especially popular for building dedications and on memorials. If a war memorial is built in the year 2050, for example, an inscription could be used to dedicate it as “Made for men and women who fought for freedom.” This unusual capitalization would be used to make the initials “MML” stand out, as these three letters are made more prominent. Together, “MML” represent the Roman numerals for 2050, which in this case would indicate the year the memorial was built.
Graves and similar symbols of remembrance are also often created with a chronogram, usually to indicate the year a person died. The phrase “My Day Closed Is In Immortality” features capital letters creating “MDCIII,” the Roman numerals for the year 1603, in which British Queen Elizabeth I died. This chronogram is often used both to pay homage to her rule and as it passes, and to act as a lung device to help people remember the year. Longer or more complicated numbers often require much longer sentences; it can become increasingly difficult to create a sentence that makes sense and contains the necessary numerical indicators.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
