Definition of anonymous

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< anonymity

anopheles >

a·non·y·mous    (-nn-ms) KEY 

ADJECTIVE:

1. Having an unknown or unacknowledged name: an anonymous author.
2. Having an unknown or withheld authorship or agency: an anonymous letter; an anonymous phone call.
3. Having no distinctive character or recognition factor: "a very great, almost anonymous center of people who just want peace" (Alan Paton).

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ETYMOLOGY:
From Late Latin annymus, from Greek annumos, nameless : an-, without ; see a-¹ + onuma, name (influenced by earlier nnumnos, nameless); see n-men- in Indo-European roots

OTHER FORMS:
a·nony·mous·ly(Adverb), a·nony·mous·ness(Noun)