Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order.
- 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
- 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
- n. A chronological mistake; the erroneous dating of an event, circumstance, or object.
- n. A person or thing which seems to belong to a different time or period of time.
GNU Webster's 1913
- 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
- n. an artifact that belongs to another time
- n. something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
- n. a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age
Etymologies
- 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).
Examples
“The usual AnSaxNet response to anachronism is to scoff at it, not to compete as to who is the most offended.”
“The biggest anachronism is misunderstanding of the phrase “right-wing.””
“True, Sarah and Don were born in 1960, so the pop culture references of today are part of their lives; and Don's own observation of himself being an anachronism is an interesting parallel ... but do we really need two references to Pamela Anderson?”
“Whether or not these people found solace in his pledge to protect them from anachronism is unknown to me.”
“James J. Ward is now wholly James J. Ward, and he shares no part of his being with any vagabond anachronism from the younger world.”
“Small for his size and standing on his toes to reach the microphone he confidently spelled "anachronism" -- much more difficult than gypsy.”
Debbie Lister: DC Corporate Types Help Inner City Kids Learn to Spell
“Don, Tagore’s being a “priest and preacher” may have been influenced by his larger than life presence in Bengal, or was an anachronism from the earlier repository of mystic poetry.”
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) : Rigoberto González : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation
“You might think that the anachronism is a mistake.”
“L.A. Confidential - set in the 1950s - Panzarella was responsible for what's called "anachronism removal.”
“We met to talk about Bohnett's support for a group campaigning to amend 1978's Proposition 13, which he has described as an anachronism and an "unmitigated disaster" for California's fiscal health that has crippled schools, universities, fire and police departments and other public institutions.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘anachronism’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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-ism's -logies
acosmism, absurdism, absolutism, ableism, aestheticism, alarmism, allotheism, anachronism, animalculism, analogism, animatism, animism and 464 more...
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-ism
denoting an action, result, or quality; denoting a system or principle; denoting a peculiarity in language; denoting a condition
alcoholism, Americanism, feminism, barbarism, exorcism, baptism, anachronism, tourism, cannibalism, capitalism, journalism, totalitarianism and 9 more...
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Wordaliciousness
Words of a delicious nature ... for whatever reason
@, libidinous, existential, vespertine, draconian, quixotic, pragmatic, incongruous, thrisis, euphemism, eccentric, anachronism and 12 more...
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ana-, an-
up; back; again
anabatic, anachronism, Anabaptism, analogous, analogy, Anabaptist, anaphylaxis, anode, anaphylactic, analogue, anagram, analyze and 1 more...
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anachronisms
odd and out of place/time
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Rndm vocab
Title is self-exclamatory.
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