Something old-fashioned and perhaps a little out of place is anachronistic, like a clunky black rotary phone sitting on a desk next to a sleek new smartphone (or whatever new technology you are if you`re reading this). Find out which words work together and create more natural English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. The adjective anachronistic comes from the Greek words ana or “against” and khronos or “time”. It usually refers to something old-fashioned or ancient, but it can also mean anything that glaringly conflicts with the era in which it is seen. Imagine watching a movie set in the 1700s and seeing one of the characters pull out a cell phone. Any phone would be anachronistic in the context of the time of the film. These sample sentences are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “anachronism.” The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. An anachronism is something that is out of place chronologically or chronologically.
The word is derived from chronos, the Greek word for “time”, and ana-, a Greek prefix meaning “above”, “back” or “again”. In its first English usage, anachronism referred to an error in the dating of something (as, for example, in etymology, when it is mistakenly assumed that a word or usage originated earlier). Anachronisms have sometimes been distinguished from parachronisms, chronological errors where dates are later determined as correct. But parachronism has not stood the test of time. It is now a very rare word. Because as realistic as they try to be, the films are full of anachronisms. Here are a few examples. The “re-enactment” of the battle, an even more recent anachronism, dates back to 1977.
By 2030, I would say that we will consider this problem in the rearview mirror as a curious anachronism. probably from Middle Greek anachronismos, from anachronizesthai to an anachronism, from late Greek anachronizein too late, from Greek ana- + chronos time Join our community to access the latest language learning and assessment tips from Oxford University Press! She considers the wedding ceremony a curious anachronism. Joshua Stamper`s 2006©New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP The gap between capital and labor increasingly appears as an anachronism, a relapse into the language and illusory simplicity of another era. “Some time ago.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/some%20time%20ago. Retrieved 28 November 2022. The usual policy of staying out of foreign conflicts when it was not absolutely necessary has become an anachronism. Find the answers online with Practical English Usage, your go-to guide to problems in English. Nevertheless, there are “many traces of an apparent anachronism,” a deviation from the older picture of life. At the time of the reform law, a benefit had become an anachronism. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article on anachronism It was more of an anachronism to him than any manifestation he had encountered before, even in the fort, that fortress of the past. SamsungMany TV remotes still rely on alkaline batteries, which looks like an anachronism in 2021.
Nglish: Translation of anachronism for Spanish speakers With these, through a poetic anachronism, appears Dietrich von Bern. In many ways, the United States Senate is an anachronism that dates back to a time when thirteen colonies were independent sovereign nations. But what is such an anachronism compared to one that engages the main character in continuous chaos? These days, says another former senior studio executive, the bets are an anachronism.
