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⇱ anachronism - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

anachronism

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UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/əˈnækrənɪzəm/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/əˈnækrəˌnɪzəm/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(ə nak′rə niz′əm)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
a•nach•ro•nism /əˈnækrəˌnɪzəm/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. an error made in which a person, object, happening, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one:It is an anachronism to write that atomic bombs were used in the Civil War.
  2. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time and is out of place in the present.
See -chron-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
a•nach•ro•nism  (ə nak′rə niz′əm),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time:The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
  2. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one:To assign Michelangelo to the 14th century is an anachronism.Cf. parachronism, prochronism.
  • Greek anachronismós a wrong time reference, equivalent. to anachron(ízein) to make a wrong time reference (see ana-, chron-, -ize) + -ismos -ism
  • Latin anachronismus
  • 1640–50;

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
anachronism /əˈnækrəˌnɪzəm/ n
  1. the representation of an event, person, or thing in a historical context in which it could not have occurred or existed
  2. a person or thing that belongs or seems to belong to another time
Etymology: 17th Century: from Latin anachronismus, from Greek anakhronismos a mistake in chronology, from anakhronizein to err in a time reference, from ana- + khronos timeaˌnachroˈnistic adj aˌnachroˈnistically adv
'anachronism' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
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