anomaly

WOTD – 26 September 2008    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin anomalia, from Ancient Greek ἀνωμαλία (anomalia, “irregularity, anomaly”), from ἀνώμαλος (anomalos, “irregular, uneven”), negating the meaning of ὁμαλός (omalos).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /əˈnɒməlɪ/, X-SAMPA: /@"nQm@lI/
• (US) IPA: /əˈnɑməli/, X-SAMPA: /@"nAm@li/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

anomaly (plural anomalies)

1. A deviation from a rule or from what is regarded as normal.
   • 1956 — Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, p 43

     This ardent exploration, absorbing all his energy and interest, made him forget for the moment the mystery of his heritage and the anomaly that cut him off from all his fellows.

2. Something or someone that is strange or unusual.

   He is an anomaly among his friends.

3. (sciences) Any event or measurement that is out of the ordinary regardless of whether it is exceptional or not.
4. (astronomy) Any of various angular distances.
5. (biology) A defect or malformation.
6. (quantum mechanics) A failure of a classical symmetry due to quantum corrections.
7. (dated) An irregularity or disproportion.

Synonyms

• (deviation from the norm) abnormality, deviance, deviation, exception, inconsistency, irregularity

Derived terms

anomaloscope anomalous eccentric anomaly

flyby anomaly mean anomaly true anomaly

Translations

deviation from norm

• Bulgarian: аномалия (bg) (anomalija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 異常 (cmn), 异常 (cmn) (yìcháng), 反常 (cmn) (fǎncháng)

• Dutch: afwijking (nl), anomalie (nl), abnormaliteit (nl)
• Finnish: anomalia (fi), poikkeavuus (fi) (property), poikkeama (fi) (instance)
• French: anomalie (fr) f
• German: Anomalie (de) f
• Greek: ανωμαλία (el) (anomalía) f

• Hungarian: anomália (hu), rendellenesség (hu), szabálytalanság (hu), eltérés (hu)
• Irish: aimhrialtacht (ga) f
• Italian: anomalia (it) f
• Japanese: 例外 (ja) (れいがい, reigai)
• Polish: anomalia (pl) f, nieprawidłowość (pl) f
• Russian: аномалия (ru) (anomálija) f, ненормальность (ru) (nenormálʹnostʹ) f
• Spanish: anomalía (es) f
• Turkish: denksizlik (tr), fevkaladelik (tr), olağandışılık (tr)

something or someone that is strange or unusual

• Bulgarian: неправилност (bg) (nepravilnost)
• Dutch: rariteit (nl), onregelmatigheid (nl)
• Finnish: anomalia (fi), poikkeava (fi), poikkeus (fi)

• Hungarian: anomália (hu)
• Italian: anomalia (it) f
• Spanish: anomalía (es) f

science: any event, big or small, out of the ordinary

• Bulgarian: аномалия (bg) (anomalija)
• Dutch: anomalie (nl) f
• Finnish: poikkeama (fi)
• Greek: ανωμαλία (el) (anomalía) f
• Hungarian: anomália (hu)

• Irish: aimhrialtacht (ga) f
• Italian: anomalia (it) f
• Polish: anomalia (pl) f, nieprawidłowość (pl) f
• Serbo-Croatian: anomalija (sh) f

astronomy: any of various angular distances

• Irish: aimhrialtacht (ga) f
• Japanese: 離角 (ja) (りかく, rikaku)

• Polish: anomalia (pl) f

dated: an irregularity or inconsistency

• Dutch: anomalie (nl) f, onregelmatigheid (nl) f
• Finnish: säännöttömyys (fi), epäsäännöllisyys (fi), poikkeus (fi)
• French: anomalie (fr) f
• German: Anomalie (de) f
• Greek: ανωμαλία (el) (anomalía) f

• Hungarian: anomália (hu)
• Italian: anomalia (it) f
• Polish: anomalia (pl) f, nieprawidłowość (pl) f
• Serbo-Croatian: anomalija (sh) f
• Swedish: anomali (sv) c, avvikelse (sv) c

biological defect or malformation

• Bulgarian: аномалия (bg) (anomalija)
• Dutch: afwijking (nl), anomalie (nl), misvorming (nl)
• Greek: ανωμαλία (el) (anomalía) f

• Irish: aimhrialtacht (ga) f
• Italian: anomalia (it) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: anomalija (sh) f
• Indonesian: anomali (id), tak normal (id), tak lazim (id)

External links

• anomaly in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• anomaly in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• anomaly at OneLook Dictionary Search