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Monogram
(301 words)

[German version]

is the name given to the merging of the individual letters of a word to ‘one’ (móno(n)) ‘character’ (grámma), involving a change of their original order. Sometimes the individual elements of the monogram need to be read more than once, sometimes only in part. Hence many monograms are ambiguous or indecipherable (g). Monograms are found more frequently in Greek than in Latin texts. The basic forms used are squares (a; b; e) and (from the 6th cent. AD onwards) crosses (c; d; f), less often triangles …

Cite this page
Eleuteri, Paolo (Venice) and Hallof, Klaus (Berlin), “Monogram”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e809100>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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