Notarikon is a method of deriving a word, akin to the creation of an acronym, by using each of its initial (Hebrew: ראשי תיבות) or final (Hebrew: סופי תיבות) letters to stand for another word, forming a sentence or idea out of the words. Another variation entails using the first and last letters, or the two middle letters of a word, etc. to form another word. The word "notarikon" is borrowed from Greek language (νοταρικόν)), which in its turn was derived from the Latin word "notarius," meaning "short-hand writer."

Notarikon is one of the three ancient methods, the other two being gematria

Gematria

Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like...

 and temurah

Temurah (Kabbalah)

Temurah is one of the three ancient methods used by Kabbalists to rearrange words and sentences in the Bible, in the belief that by this method they can derive the esoteric substratum and deeper spiritual meaning of the words. Temurah may be used to change letters in certain words to create a new...

, used by the Kabbalists

Kabbalah

Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

 to rearrange words and sentences in the Bible to derive the esoteric substratum and deeper spiritual meaning of the words. Notarikon was also used in the protoscience

Protoscience

In the philosophy of science, a protoscience is an area of scientific endeavor that is in the process of becoming established. Protoscience is distinguished from pseudoscience by its standard practices of good science, such as a willingness to be disproven by new evidence, or to be replaced by a...

 alchemy

Alchemy

Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...

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