Anonymity

How to spell anonymity

9 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce anonymity

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does anonymity mean?

1. nounThe condition of being unknown, unidentified, or untraceable by name.

Anonymity in a sentence

• The whistleblower agreed to talk only on condition of complete anonymity.

• The survey promised full anonymity so that staff would answer honestly.

Where does anonymity come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek anonymos, which literally meant 'without a name', built from the prefix an- meaning 'without' and onyma, a dialect form of onoma meaning 'name'. That same onoma root sits inside a whole family of English words about naming, such as 'synonym' (a name shared in meaning), 'pseudonym' (a false name), and 'antonym' (an opposite name). The adjective 'anonymous' reached English in the early 1600s, partly through the Latin form anonymus, and the abstract noun 'anonymity', meaning the state of having no known name, followed somewhat later in the 1800s with the Latin-style -ity ending tacked on. The modern sense, the condition of being unidentified or untraceable, grew naturally from that original 'nameless' idea. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the unstressed 'o' in -nym- is easy to drop, and the doubled 'n' sound and string of similar vowels make writers hesitate.

How the word is built

• an- (without)
• onym (name)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix)