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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order.
  2. n. One that is out of its proper or chronological order, especially a person or practice that belongs to an earlier time: "A new age had plainly dawned, an age that made the institution of a segregated picnic seem an anachronism” ( Henry Louis Gates, Jr.)

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. An error in respect to dates; any error which implies the misplacing of persons or events in time; hence, anything foreign to or out of keeping with a specified time. Thus, Shakspere makes Hector quote Aristotle, who lived many centuries after the assumed date of Hector. Anachronisms may be made in regard to mode of thought, style of writing, and the like, as well as in regard to events.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A chronological mistake; the erroneous dating of an event, circumstance, or object.
  2. n. A person or thing which seems to belong to a different time or period of time.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A misplacing or error in the order of time; an error in chronology by which events are misplaced in regard to each other, esp. one by which an event is placed too early; falsification of chronological relation.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. an artifact that belongs to another time
  2. n. something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
  3. n. a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age

Etymologies

  1. From Latin anachronismus, from Ancient Greek ἀναχρονισμός (anakhronismos), from ἀναχρονίζομαι (anakhronizomai, "referring to the wrong time"), from ἀνά (ana, "up against") + χρονίζω (khronizo, "spending time"), which from χρόνος (khronos, "time"). (Wiktionary)
  2. French anachronisme, from New Latin anachronismus, from Late Greek anakhronismos, from anakhronizesthai, to be an anachronism : Greek ana-, ana- + Greek khronizein, to take time (from khronos, time). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. throwback

hypernyms (5)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. artifact
  1. artefact
  1. timekeeping
  1. anomaly
  1. unusual person

same context (25)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. inconsistency
  2. discrepancy
  3. incongruity
  4. blunder
  5. inaccuracy
  1. exaggerations
  2. omission
  3. absurdities
  4. misrepresentations
  5. misstatements
  1. unfairness
  2. interpolation
  3. impropriety
  4. plagiarism
  5. infraction
  1. misapprehension
  2. anomaly
  3. solecism
  4. imperfection
  5. perversion
  1. falsehood
  2. inequality
  3. falsification
  4. exaggeration
  5. paradox

reverse dictionary (9)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. antichronism
  1. anachronically
  1. anachronist
  1. anachronous
  1. anachronic
  1. anachronistic
  1. anacrotic
  1. anachronism
  1. prolepsis

tags (6)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. time
  1. -ism
  1. chron
  1. an-
  1. ana-
  1. SATWOTD

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Lists

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Comments

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  • ekbergmann I am not so serious
    This passion is a plagiarism
    I might join your century
    But only on a rare occasion
    I was taken out
    Before the labor pains set in and now
    Behold the world's worst accident
    I am the girl anachronism
    -"Girl Anachronism", The Dresden Dolls

    From Wikipedia: The lyrics, alternately angry, apologetic, and full of complaint, deal with Amanda Palmer, the band's lead singer, as a "problem child", a trait which she blames on the fact that she was born a few days premature, by Caesarean section. As the song grows, the lyrics split into various subplots, all of which are related to feeling out of place or out of time. Mar 31, 2010

  • chained_bear This example was particularly interesting (to me anyway): "Juxtaposition of items or situations that belong to different and separate time periods, such as Stegosaurus (of the Jurassic Period) with Tyrannosaurus (of the Cretaceous Period)." Aug 28, 2008

  • thinkcharlene Frasier - Season 8, Episode 5 - "Taking Liberties" Nov 9, 2007

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‘anachronism’ has been looked up 8679 times, loved by 26 people, added to 151 lists, commented on 4 times, and has a Scrabble score of 18.