anomaly
nounUK /əˈnɒm.ə.lɪ/ · US /əˈnɑ.mə.li/
Etymology From Latin anomalia, from Ancient Greek ἀνωμαλία (anōmalía, “irregularity, anomaly”), from ἀνώμαλος (anṓmalos, “irregular, uneven”), negating the meaning of ὁμαλός (homalós, “even”), from ὁμός (homós, “same”).
7 senses
- 1A deviation from a rule or from what is regarded as…
- 2Something or someone that is strange or unusual.
- 3Any event or measurement that is out of the ordinary…
- 4Any of various angular distances.
- 5A defect or malformation.
- 6A failure of a classical symmetry due to quantum corrections.
- 7An irregularity or disproportion.
1
A deviation from a rule or from what is regarded as normal; an outlier.
- This ardent exploration, absorbing all his energy and interest, made him forget for the moment the mystery of his heritage and the anomaly that cut him off from all his fellows.1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 43:
2
Something or someone that is strange or unusual.
- He is an anomaly among his friends in that he's the only one who's unmarried.
3
Sciences Any event or measurement that is out of the ordinary regardless of whether it is exceptional or not.
- She disregarded some of the anomalies in the experiment, putting them down to miscalculation.
4
Astronomy, Natural sciences Any of various angular distances.
5
Biology, Natural sciences A defect or malformation.
6
A failure of a classical symmetry due to quantum corrections.
Quantum mechanics
7
Dated An irregularity or disproportion.
- Synonyms
- aberrant, abnormality, anomaly, deviance, deviant, farlie, freak, irregularity, odd fish, oddity, outlier, peculiarity, queerness, rarity, rum, strange fish, strangeness, unusualness, weirdness
- Derived terms
- anomalism, anomalistic, anomaloscope, anomalous, calendar anomaly, Chediak-Higashi anomaly, collie eye anomaly, deuteranomaly, eccentric anomaly, flyby anomaly, isanomaly, Kohn anomaly, mean anomaly, Pioneer anomaly, quantum anomaly, Schottky anomaly, stereoanomaly, true anomaly
- Related terms
- odditorium
- Hypernyms
- entity, occurrence
- Holonyms
- exotica