anon

See also Anon, and ânon

English

Etymology 1

Old English anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment) on in + an one. See on and one.

Pronunciation

• enPR: *ə-nŏn', IPA: /əˈnɒn/, IPA-ASCII: /@"nQn/
• Rhymes: -ɒn

Adverb

anon (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Straightway; at once.
   • The same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. --Matt. xiii. 20.
   • 1866, Algernon Swinburne, After death, lines 47-50

     The dead man answered thus:

     “What good gift shall God give us?”

     The boards answered him anon:

     “Flesh to feed hell's worm upon.”

2. Soon; in a little while.

   As it shall better appear anon. --Stow.

3. At another time; then; again.

   Sometimes he trots, . . . anon he rears upright. William Shakspeare.

Derived terms

• ever and anon

Etymology 2

From anonymous, by shortening

Noun

anon (plural anons)

1. An anonymous person, especially an author
   • 1904, Thomas Wright, The Life of Edward Fitzgerald, vol. 1, page 94

     Indeed they did all they could to avoid it, coyly hiding their identities behind initials, asterisks, and anons

   • 1940, w:Virginia Woolf, "Anon".

     Every body shared in the emotion of Anons [sic] song .... Anon is sometimes man, sometimes woman....

   • 2004, Jane Milling, Peter Thomson, Joseph W. Donohue, Baz Kershaw, The Cambridge History of British Theatre, page 207

     Indeed, virtually every known playwright (and probably most of those 'anons') occupied some position in one or more of the patronage networks

   • 2006, J. Michael Walton, Found in Translation: Greek Drama in English, page 185

     those identified by initials only and the 'Anons' (some of whom are here unmasked)

2. A work with an unknown author
   • 1984, Helen Hooven Santmyer, "---and ladies of the club", page 214

     On the floor again she came upon a couple of "Anons" and frowned at them: Ought We to Visit Her and Cast Away in The Cold. Those would certainly do very well on the top shelf.

3. A work without a title

Translations

anonymous person

Russian: анон (ru)

Adjective

anon (not comparable)

1. anonymous

Related terms

• anonym
• anonymal
• anonymity
• anonymize
• anonymosity
• anonymous
• anonymously
• anonymousness

Anagrams

• nano, Nano
• Nona

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Esperanto

Noun

anon

1. accusative singular of ano

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧non
• IPA: [ˈɑnon]

Verb

anon

1. First-person singular present indicative form of anoa.