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anachronisms

 - 3 dictionary results

a⋅nach⋅ro⋅nism

  [uh-nak-ruh-niz-uhm]
Use anachronisms in a Sentence
–noun
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.

Origin:
1640–50; < L anachronismus < Gk anachronismós a wrong time reference, equiv. to anachron(ízein) to make a wrong time reference (see ana-, chron-, -ize ) + -ismos -ism

Related forms:
an⋅a⋅chron⋅i⋅cal⋅ly  [an-uh-kron-ik-lee] , adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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a·nach·ro·nism   (ə-nāk'rə-nĭz'əm)   
n.  

  1. The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order.

  2. 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.)


[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).]
a·nach'ro·nis'tic, a·nach'ro·nous (-nəs) adj., a·nach'ro·nis'ti·cal·ly, a·nach'ro·nous·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

anachronism 
c.1646, "an error in computing time or finding dates," from L. anachronismus, from Gk. anachronismos, from anachronizein "refer to wrong time," from ana- "against" + khronizein "spend time," from khronos "time." Meaning "something out of harmony with the present" first recorded 1816.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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