anonymous

See also: Anonymous

English

Etymology

Borrowed into English around 1600 from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin anonymus, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νώνῠμος (anṓnumos, “without name”), from ᾰ̓ν- (an-, “un-”) with ὄνῠμᾰ (ónuma), Aeolic and Doric dialectal form of ὄνομᾰ (ónoma, “name”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈnɒnəməs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnəməs

Adjective

anonymous (comparative more anonymous, superlative most anonymous)

1. (not comparable) Lacking a name; not named, for example an animal not assigned to any species.
2. (not comparable) Without any name acknowledged of a person responsible

   an anonymous pamphlet; an anonymous subscription.

   anonymous author

3. (not comparable) Of unknown name; whose name is withheld

   an anonymous author; an anonymous benefactor.

   The anonymous contributors of Wikipedia

   • 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian‎^[1]:

     The shift in the balance of power online has allowed anyone to publish to the world, from dispirited teenagers in south London to an anonymous cyber-dissident in a Middle East autocracy.

   No customer personal data will be retained unless it is rendered anonymous.

4. (comparable, figurative) Lacking individuality.

   an anonymous office block in a soulless industrial estate

Synonyms

• (lacking a name): nameless
• (of unknown name): unidentified, unknown, unnamed
• (lacking individuality): faceless
• (without consideration of prestige or background): on the merits

Antonyms

• onymous

Derived terms

• anonym
• anonymously
• anonymousness
• anon

Related terms

terms related to anonymous (adjective)

• anonyme
• anonymal
• anonymity
• anonymize

• anonymosity
• anonymus (noun)
• pseudonymous

Translations

wanting a name, not named and determined

• Belarusian: анані́мны (ananímny)
• Breton: dizanv (br)
• Bulgarian: безименен (bg) (bezimenen)
• Catalan: anònim (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無名／无名 (zh) (wúmíng), 无名 (zh) (wúmíng), 匿名 (zh) (nìmíng)

• Czech: bezejmenný (cs) m
• Danish: anonym, ukendt (da)
• Dutch: naamloos (nl), onbenoemd (nl)
• Esperanto: anonima
• Faroese: ónevndur
• Finnish: nimetön (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr)
• Galician: anónimo m
• German: namenlos (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: ανώνυμος (el) (anónymos)
• Hindi: अनाम (hi) (anām)
• Hungarian: névtelen (hu)
• Interlingue:
• Japanese: 無名 (ja) (むめいの, mumei no), 匿名の (ja) (とくめいの, tokumei no)
• Korean: 익명의 (ingmyeong'ui)
• Lithuanian: bevardis
• Polish: bezimienny (pl) m
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt) (Portugal), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: anonim (ro)
• Russian: анони́мный (ru) (anonímnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun urrainn
• Serbo-Croatian: ȁnonīman (sh)
• Spanish: anónimo (es)
• Swedish: anonym (sv), okänd (sv)
• Ukrainian: аноні́мний (uk) (anonímnyj)
• Welsh: dienw (cy), anhysbys (cy)

without any name (of responsible agent) acknowledged

• Albanian: paemër (sq)
• Belarusian: безыме́нны (bjezymjénny), безназо́ўны (bjeznazóŭny)
• Bulgarian: анони́мен (bg) (anonímen)
• Catalan: anònim (ca)
• Czech: anonymní (cs)
• Danish: anonym
• Dutch: naamloos (nl), anoniem (nl)
• Esperanto: anonima, sennoma
• Finnish: nimetön (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr)
• German: anonym (de)
• Greek: ανώνυμος (el) (anónymos)
• Hebrew: אנונימי (anoními)
• Interlingua: anonyme
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: anonimo (it)
• Lithuanian: bevardis
• Polish: anonimowy (pl)
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: anonim (ro)
• Russian: безымя́нный (ru) (bezymjánnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun urrainn
• Serbo-Croatian: ȁnonīman (sh)
• Slovene: anonimen
• Spanish: anónimo (es) m
• Swedish: anonym (sv)
• Ukrainian: безіме́нний (uk) (beziménnyj)
• Welsh: dienw (cy)

of unknown name; whose name is withheld

• Albanian: paemër (sq)
• Bulgarian: анони́мен (bg) (anonímen)
• Catalan: anònim (ca)
• Czech: anonymní (cs)
• Danish: anonym
• Dutch: naamloos (nl), anoniem (nl)
• Esperanto: anonima, sennoma
• Finnish: anonyymi (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr)
• German: anonym (de)
• Greek: ανώνυμος (el) (anónymos)
• Hungarian: névtelen (hu)
• Interlingua: anonyme
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: anonimo (it)
• Lithuanian: bevardis
• Polish: anonimowy (pl) m
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt) (Portugal), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: anonim (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun urrainn
• Serbo-Croatian: ȁnonīman (sh)
• Slovene: anonimen
• Spanish: anónimo (es) m
• Swedish: anonym (sv), anonymiserad
• Vietnamese: vô danh (vi)

lacking individuality

• Esperanto: anonima
• Finnish: nimetön (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr) m or f
• Interlingua: anonyme
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: anonimo (it)
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Spanish: anónimo (es)

without consideration of prestige, title, rank or background

• Esperanto: anonima
• French: anonyme (fr) m or f
• Interlingua: anonyme
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: anonimo (it)
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Spanish: anónimo (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bengali: ^{(please verify)} অনামিকা (bn) (anamika)
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} אלמוני (he) m (almony), ^{(please verify)} אלמונית f (almonyt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} అనామిక (te) (anāmika)

See also

• Template:projectlink
• John Doe
• unknown

References

• “anonymous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “anonymous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.