Anomalies

How to spell anomalies

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce anomalies

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does anomalies mean?

1. nounThings that deviate from what is standard, normal, or expected.

Anomalies in a sentence

• The auditor flagged several anomalies in the monthly accounts.

• Sensors on the bridge detect tiny anomalies in the steel before cracks appear.

Where does anomalies come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word descends from the Greek anomalos, which literally meant 'uneven' or 'irregular', built from the negative prefix an- ('not') and homalos ('even' or 'level'), itself related to homos meaning 'same'. The Greek noun anomalia therefore described a lack of evenness or smoothness, a departure from the regular. Latin took the term as anomalia, and English absorbed the singular 'anomaly' in the early seventeenth century to mean something that deviates from the usual rule or expected pattern. The spelling trap sits in the soft, unstressed middle: the second 'a' and the 'o' both blur into a vague schwa when spoken, so writers often guess at which vowel goes where. It helps to remember the hidden 'same' root in homalos, since an anomaly is precisely the thing that fails to look the same as everything around it.

How the word is built

• an- (Greek a-/an-: not, without)
• homal (from homalos: even, level)
• -y (noun suffix)
• -ies (plural)