anon

See also: Anon, ânon, and anon.

English

Etymology 1

Middle English anoon, anon, anan (literally “in one (moment)”), from on (“in”) +‎ ān (“one”). See on and one.

Pronunciation

• enPR: *ə-nŏn', IPA^(key): /əˈnɒn/
• Rhymes: -ɒn

Adverb

anon (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Straight away; at once.
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 2 scene 2

     CALIBAN: Thou dost me yet but little hurt; thou wilt anon, / I know it by thy trembling: now Prosper works upon thee.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 13:20:

     But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

   • 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.
   • 1598, John Stow, A Suruay of London, OL 18584211M:

     […] for as much as the same consisteth not in the extreames, but in a verie mediocritie of wealth and riches, as it shall better appeare anone.

     […] forasmuch as the same consisteth not in the extremes, but in a very mediocrity of wealth and riches, as it shall better appear anon.

3. At another time; then; again.
   • 1593, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, OL 18594545M:

     Sometimes he trots, as if he told the steps,

     With gentle majesty and modest pride;

     Anon he rears upright, curvets and leaps,

     As who should say, lo! thus my strength is try'd...

   • 1906, O. Henry, A Cosmopolite in a Café:

     Anon he would be telling you of a cold he acquired in a Chicago lake breeze and how old Escamila cured it in Buenos Ayres with a hot infusion of the chuchula weed.

Derived terms

• ever and anon
• still and anon

Translations

straightway, at once

• French: tout de suite (fr), tantôt (fr) (Québec)

  Middle French: tantost

• German: sofort (de)
• Russian: то́тчас (ru) (tótčas)

soon, in a little while

• German: bald (de)
• Portuguese: em breve (pt)

• Russian: ско́ро (ru) (skóro), вско́ре (ru) (vskóre)

Etymology 2

From anonymous, by shortening

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əˈnɒn/

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, 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

• Italian: anonimo (it)

• Russian: ано́н (ru) (anón)

Adjective

anon (not comparable)

1. anonymous

Related terms

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

Anagrams

• 'onna, Nona, Onan, nano, nano-, nona-, onna

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Esperanto

Noun

anon

1. accusative singular of ano

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑnon/, [ˈɑno̞n]
• Hyphenation: a‧non

Verb

anon

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

Anagrams

• nano-