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MA|DE's avatar

Hi John,

The accepted term, I think, for what you are describing is an ‘abecedarian’ — in which the first letter of each line or stanza follows sequentially through the entire alphabet

John Oughton's avatar

Thanks for that. And I'll note that "abecedarian" is possibly the only word in English that has the first five letters of the alphabet is its first five places.

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Jul 10
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MA|DE's avatar

More interestingly, there is also a religious sect wildly named "Abecedarians" — a radical 16th-century German Anabaptist sect that believed human knowledge interfered with divine enlightenment. They advocated for total ignorance—even of the alphabet—arguing that God would instruct them from within.