Acrostic in the context of Psalm 10

A backronym treats an already existing word as an acronym and expands its letters into the words of a phrase, and so is effectively an acrostic. The word is a portmanteau of back and acronym. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology.

A normal acronym is a word derived from the initial letter(s) of the words of a phrase, such as radar from "radio detection and ranging". By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin". Many fictional espionage organizations are backronyms, such as SPECTRE (special executive for counterintelligence, terrorism, revenge and extortion) from the James Bond franchise.

The Five Points of Calvinism constitute a summary of soteriology in Reformed Christianity. Named after John Calvin, they largely reflect the teaching of the Canons of Dort. The five points assert that God saves every person upon whom he has mercy, and that his efforts are not frustrated by the unrighteousness or inability of humans. They are occasionally known by the acrostic TULIP: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.

The five points are popularly said to summarize the Canons of Dort; however, there is no historical relationship between them, and some scholars argue that their language distorts the meaning of the Canons, Calvin's theology, and the theology of 17th-century Calvinistic orthodoxy, particularly in the language of total depravity and limited atonement. The five points were more recently popularized in the 1963 booklet The Five Points of Calvinism Defined, Defended, Documented by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas. The origins of the five points and the acrostic are uncertain, but they appear to be outlined in the Counter Remonstrance of 1611, a lesser-known Reformed reply to the Arminian Five Articles of Remonstrance, which was written prior to the Canons of Dort. The acrostic TULIP was used by Cleland Boyd McAfee as early as circa 1905. An early printed appearance of the acrostic can be found in Loraine Boettner's 1932 book, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.

Psalm 37 is the 37th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 36. In Latin, it is known as Noli aemulari in malignantibus. The psalm has the form of an acrostic Hebrew poem, and is thought to have been written by David in his old age.

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has inspired hymns based on it, and has been set to music, by Baroque composers such as Heinrich Schütz as well as romantic composers such as Anton Bruckner.

The Roman de Fauvel is a 14th-century French allegorical verse romance of satirical bent, generally attributed to Gervais du Bus [fr], a clerk at the French royal chancery. The original narrative of 3,280 octosyllabics is divided into two books, dated to 1310 and 1314 respectively, during the reigns of Philip IV and Louis X. In 1316–7 Chaillou de Pesstain produced a greatly expanded version.

The romance features Fauvel, a fallow-colored horse who rises to prominence in the French royal court, and through him satirizes the self-serving hedonism and hypocrisy of men, and the excesses of the ruling estates, both secular and ecclesiastical. The antihero's name can be broken down to mean "false veil", and also forms an acrostic F-A-V-V-E-L with the letters standing for the human vices: Flattery, Avarice, Vileness, Variability (Fickleness), Envy, and Laxity. The romance also gave birth to the English expression "curry fauvel", the obsolete original form of "curry favor". The work is reminiscent of a similar tract in the 13th-century Roman de la Rose, though owes more to the animal fabliaux of Reynard the Fox.

Psalm 112 is the 112th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 111. In Latin, it is known as Beatus vir qui timet Dominum. It is a psalm "in praise of the virtuous". This psalm, along with Psalm 111, is acrostic by phrase, that is, each 7-9 syllable phrase begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order.

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. Musical settings abound, as the psalm was a common part of Vespers, such as Monteverdi's 1610 Vespro della Beata Vergine and Mozart's Vesperae de Dominica and Vesperae solennes de confessore (K. 339). Górecki composed Beatus Vir as an extended work for baritone, choir and orchestra in 1979.