anomaly

/əˈnɒməli/uh-NO-muh-lee

/əˈnɑməli/uh-NAH-muh-lee

Meaningunevenness; not by rule

Common meaning: something that departs from the usual

anot, without (Greek ἀ-/ἀν-)Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. · scan
nomcustom, law; that which is assignedLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 535 · scan
alynoun ending: a case or instance

‘not, without (Greek ἀ-/ἀν-)’ + ‘custom, law’ → anomaly

Journey through time

Greekνόμος‘custom, law’
Englishanomaly‘something that departs from the usual’ · today

a- also in: atom abyss apathy amnesty anodyne

nom also in: economy autonomy taxonomy astronomy gastronomy

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek νόμος ‘custom, law; that which is assigned’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry νόμος, p. 535 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry ANOMALY, p. 25 · dictionary scan

Roots

νόμος Greek “custom, law; that which is assigned”

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app