/ əˈkrɒstɪk; NAmE -ˈkrɔːs-/ noun
a poem or other piece of writing in which particular letters in each line, usually the first letters, can be read downwards to form a word or words
••
WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent.: from French acrostiche , from Greek akrostikhis , from akron end + stikhos row, line of verse. The change in the ending was due to association with -ic .