anachronism

views updated May 23 2018

a·nach·ro·nism / əˈnakrəˌnizəm/ • n. a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned: everything was as it would have appeared in centuries past apart from one anachronism, a bright yellow construction crane. ∎  an act of attributing a custom, event, or object to a period to which it does not belong.DERIVATIVES: a·nach·ro·nis·tic / əˌnakrəˈnistik/ adj.a·nach·ro·nis·ti·cal·ly / -ˈnistik(ə)lē/ adv.

ANACHRONISM

views updated May 23 2018

ANACHRONISM. [Stress: ‘a-NA-kronizm’.] In RHETORIC, the appearance of a person or thing in the wrong epoch, such as the clock in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Linguistic anachronisms are generally a matter of awareness, context, and expectation: for example, the archaism wight (person, man) may be appropriate at a seminar on the Elizabethan poet Spenser, but is incongruous and probably unintelligible elsewhere. Similarly, a character in a period novel who says OK long before the phrase was current rings false for anyone who knows (or senses) that its time is out of joint. Compare ARCHAISM.

anachronism

views updated May 18 2018

anachronism XVII. — F. anachronisme or Gr. anakhronismós, f. aná back + khrónos time; see CHRONIC, -ISM.