anonymous

See also: Anonymous

English

Etymology

Borrowed into English around 1600 from Late Latin anonymus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νώνῠμος (anṓnumos, “without name”), from ᾰ̓ν- (an-, “un-”) with ὄνῠμᾰ (ónuma), Aeolic and Doric dialectal form of ὄνομᾰ (ónoma, “name”). English equivalent anonym +‎ -ous, its full etymology being an- +‎ -onym +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈnɒn.ə.məs/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /əˈnɑ.nə.məs/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /əˈnɔn.ə.məs/
• 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.

   Synonym: nameless

   Coordinate term: no-name

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

   Synonyms: unidentified, unknown, unnamed

   an anonymous author

   an anonymous benefactor

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

   • 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.

4. (comparable, figurative) Lacking individuality.

   Synonym: faceless

   an anonymous office block in a soulless industrial estate

Synonyms

• (without consideration of prestige or background): on the merits

Antonyms

• onymous

Derived terms

• anon
• anonym
• anonymous class
• anonymouse
• anonymously
• anonymousness
• anonymous pipe
• anonymous sculpture
• nonanonymous

 

Related terms

• anomia
• anonymal
• anonymity
• anonymize
• anonymosity
• pseudonymous

 

Translations

wanting a name, not named and determined

• Arabic: مَجْهُول (majhūl)
• Armenian: անանուն (hy) (ananun)
• Assamese: নিনাও (ninaü)
• Belarusian: анані́мны (ananímny), бязыме́нны (bjazymjénny)
• Breton: dizanv (br)
• Bulgarian: бези́менен (bg) (bezímenen), анони́мен (bg) (anonímen)
• Catalan: anònim (ca)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: bezejmenný (cs) m
• Danish: anonym (da), ukendt (da)
• Dutch: naamloos (nl), onbenoemd (nl)
• Esperanto: anonima
• Faroese: ónevndur
• Finnish: nimetön (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr)
• Galician: anónimo m
• Georgian: ანონიმური (anonimuri), უსახელო (usaxelo), სახელდაურქმეველი (saxeldaurkmeveli)
• German: namenlos (de)
• Greek: ανώνυμος (el) (anónymos)

  Ancient: ἀνώνυμος (anṓnumos)

• Hindi: अनाम (hi) (anām), अज्ञात (hi) (agyāt)
• Hungarian: névtelen (hu)
• Japanese: 無名 (ja) (むめいの, mumei no), 匿名の (ja) (とくめいの, tokumei no)
• Korean: 익명의 (ko) (ingmyeong'ui), 무명 (ko) (mumyeong)
• Lithuanian: bevardis
• Macedonian: бе́зимен (bézimen), анони́мен (anonímen)
• Manx: neuennymagh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: anonym (no)

• Polish: bezimienny (pl) m, anonimowy (pl)
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt) (Portugal), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: anonim (ro)
• Russian: анони́мный (ru) (anonímnyj), безымя́нный (ru) (bezymjánnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun urrainn
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̏нонӣман

  Roman: ȁnonīman (sh)

• Slovak: bezmenný
• Slovene: anonimen
• Spanish: anónimo (es)
• Swedish: anonym (sv), okänd (sv)
• Turkish: isimsiz (tr), adsız (tr)
• Ukrainian: аноні́мний (uk) (anonímnyj), безіме́нний (uk) (beziménnyj)
• Welsh: dienw (cy), anhysbys (cy)

without any name (of responsible agent) acknowledged

• Albanian: paemër (sq)
• Armenian: անանուն (hy) (ananun)
• Belarusian: безыме́нны (bjezymjénny), безназо́ўны (bjeznazóŭny)
• Bulgarian: анони́мен (bg) (anonímen)
• Catalan: anònim (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 佚名 (zh) (yìmíng)

• Czech: anonymní (cs)
• Danish: anonym (da)
• Dutch: naamloos (nl), anoniem (nl)
• Esperanto: anonima, sennoma
• Finnish: nimetön (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr)
• Georgian: ანონიმური (anonimuri)
• German: anonym (de)
• Greek: ανώνυμος (el) (anónymos)
• Hebrew: אַלְמוֹנִי (he) m (almoní), אנונימי (anoními)
• Interlingua: anonyme
• Italian: anonimo (it)
• Lithuanian: bevardis
• Macedonian: бе́зимен (bézimen), анони́мен (anonímen)
• Manx: neuennymagh
• Polish: anonimowy (pl), bezimienny (pl)
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: anonim (ro)
• Russian: безымя́нный (ru) (bezymjánnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun urrainn
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̏нонӣман

  Roman: ȁnonīman (sh)

• Slovene: anonimen
• Spanish: anónimo (es)
• Swedish: anonym (sv)
• Turkish: anonim (tr), isimsiz (tr), adsız (tr)
• Ukrainian: безіме́нний (uk) (beziménnyj)
• Vietnamese: vô danh (vi), ẩn danh, nặc danh (vi)
• Welsh: dienw (cy)

of unknown name; whose name is withheld

• Albanian: paemër (sq)
• Arabic: مَجْهُول (majhūl)
• Armenian: անանուն (hy) (ananun)
• Bulgarian: анони́мен (bg) (anonímen)
• Catalan: anònim (ca)
• Czech: anonymní (cs)
• Danish: anonym (da)
• Dutch: naamloos (nl), anoniem (nl)
• Esperanto: anonima, sennoma
• Finnish: anonyymi (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr)
• Georgian: ანონიმური (anonimuri)
• German: anonym (de)
• Greek: ανώνυμος (el) (anónymos)
• Hungarian: névtelen (hu)
• Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
• Interlingua: anonyme
• Italian: anonimo (it)
• Lithuanian: bevardis
• Macedonian: анони́мен (anonímen), неи́звесен (neízvesen)
• Malay: tidak bernama
• Manx: neuennymagh
• Polish: anonimowy (pl) m, bezimienny (pl)
• Portuguese: anónimo (pt) (Portugal), anônimo (pt) (Brazil)
• Romanian: anonim (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun urrainn
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: а̏нонӣман

  Roman: ȁnonīman (sh)

• Slovak: anonymný
• Slovene: anonimen
• Spanish: anónimo (es)
• Swedish: anonym (sv), anonymiserad (sv)
• Vietnamese: vô danh (vi), ẩn danh, nặc danh (vi), giấu tên

lacking individuality

• Esperanto: anonima
• Finnish: nimetön (fi)
• French: anonyme (fr) m or f
• Interlingua: anonyme
• Italian: anonimo (it)
• Polish: anonimowy (pl), bezimienny (pl)
• 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
• 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) (onamika)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} అనామిక (te) (anāmika)

See also

• anonymous on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 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.