boustrophedon

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

boustrophedon
    n 1: an ancient writing system: having alternate lines written
         in opposite directions; literally `as the ox ploughs'

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Boustrophedon \Bou`stro*phe"don\, n. [Gr. ? turning like oxen in
   plowing; ? to turn.]
   An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions, one line
   from left to right, and the next from right to left (as
   fields are plowed), as in early Greek and Hittite.
   [1913 Webster]

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

boustrophedon
 n.

   [from a Greek word for turning like an ox while plowing] An ancient
   method of writing using alternate left-to-right and right-to-left
   lines. This term is actually philologists' techspeak and typesetters'
   jargon. Erudite hackers use it for an optimization performed by some
   computer typesetting software and moving-head printers. The adverbial
   form `boustrophedonically' is also found (hackers purely love
   constructions like this).

[email protected]