What is "chronogram"

Chronogram \Chron"o*gram\, n. [Gr. ? time + ? writing, character: cf. F. chronogramme.]

1. An inscription in which certain numeral letters, made to appear specially conspicuous, on being added together, express a particular date or epoch, as in the motto of a medal struck by Gustavus Adolphus in 1632: ChrIstVs DVX; ergo trIVMphVs. - the capitals of which give, when added as numerals, the sum 163

2. 2. The record or inscription made by a chronograph.

n. A sentence or inscription in which the capital letters, interpreted in Roman numerals, stand for a particular date if rearranged.

A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals, stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words chronos ("time") and gramma ("letter").

In the pure chronogram each word contains a numeral; the natural chronogram shows all numerals in the correct numerical order, e.g. AMORE MATVRITAS = MMVI = 2006. Chronograms in versification are referred to as chronosticha if they are written in hexameter and chronodisticha if they are written in distich.

In the ancient Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist tradition, especially in ancient Java, chronograms were called chandrasengkala and usually used in inscriptions to signify a given year in the Saka Calendar. Certain words were assigned their specific number, and poetic phrases were formed from these selected words to describe particular events that have their own numerical meanings. For example, the candrasengkala "sirna ilang kertaning bumi" ("the wealth of earth disappeared and diminished") (sirna = 0, ilang = 0, kerta = 4, bumi = 1) corresponds to the year 1400 in the Saka Calendar (1478 CE), the date of the fall of the Majapahit Empire.