noun
anachronism
uh-NAK-ruh-niz-um/əˈnækrənɪzəm/
Something placed in or belonging to a time other than its proper historical period.
The medieval knight's modern smartphone is an unmistakable anachronism.
Etymology
“Against” and “time” underlie the idea of referring something to the wrong time. The word expanded from an error in dating to something out of place in a particular period.
In context
For when men compose their differences without shedding of blood, masses to murder and be murdered are an anachronism
More examples
- The historian spots several anachronisms in the costume designs.
- That outdated rule feels like an anachronism in a modern workplace.
- The novelist removes an anachronism involving a technology not yet invented.
Forms
anachronism · anachronisms
anachronistic adjective — Belonging to the wrong historical period.
Similar words
- inaccuracy
- Any error, not necessarily one involving historical time.
- relic
- Something surviving from the past rather than misplaced within it.