anonymous
adjUK /əˈnɒn.ə.məs/ · CA, US /əˈnɑ.nə.məs/
Etymology Borrowed into English around 1600 from Late Latin anonymus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νώνῠμος (ănṓnŭmos, “without name”), from ᾰ̓ν- (ăn-, “un-”) with ὄνῠμᾰ (ónŭmă), Aeolic and Doric dialectal form of ὄνομᾰ (ónomă, “name”). English equivalent anonym + -ous, its full etymology being an- + -onym + -ous.
1
Lacking a name; not named, for example an animal not assigned to any species .
2
Without any name acknowledged of a person responsible.
- an anonymous pamphlet
- an anonymous subscription
1 more example
- anonymous author or painter
3
Of unknown name; whose name is withheld
- an anonymous author
- an anonymous benefactor
2 more examples
- No customer personal data will be retained unless it is rendered anonymous.
- The shift in the balance of power online has allowed anyone to publish to the world, from dispirited teenagers in south London to an anonymous cyber-dissident in a Middle East autocracy.2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:
4
Figuratively Lacking individuality.
- an anonymous office block in a soulless industrial estate
- Synonyms
- on the merits
- Antonyms
- onymous
- Derived terms
- anon, anonym, anonymous class, anonymouse, anonymously, anonymousness, anonymous pipe, anonymous proxy, anonymous sculpture, nonanonymous
- Related terms
- anomia, anonymal, anonymity, anonymize, anonymosity, pseudonymous, John Doe, unknown