Where does “anonymous” come from?
Anonymous comes from Late Latin anonymus, derived from Ancient Greek ἀνώνυμος, composed of the prefix ἀ- (not) and a root from Proto-Indo-European sem- (one, same), meaning without a name.
anonymous (English): Lacking a name; not named, for example an animal...
Definitions
- Lacking a name; not named, for example an animal...
Ancestry of “anonymous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Late Latin | anonymus | anonymous; nameless |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | ἀνώνυμος | anonymous, nameless |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | ἀν- | Alternative form of ἀ- used before a vowel;... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | ὀρθός | straight, upright, erect; straight forward, in a... |
| 5 | Proto-Hellenic | ortʰwós | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃r̥dʰwós | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃erdʰ- | to increase, grow; upright, high |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -wós | Creates adjectives from verb stems |