Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ



Aug 13, 2013
This week's theme
There's a word for it

This week's words
snowbroth
anatopism
quaternary
elflock
allochthonous

anatopism
In an alternate universe, Egypt moves in between Iran & Saudi Arabia

Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

anatopism

PRONUNCIATION:
(uh-NAT-uh-piz-ehm)

MEANING:
noun: The error of placing something out of its proper place; also something placed erroneously.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek ana- (against) + topos (place). Anatopism is to place what anachronism is to time. Earliest documented use: 1812.

USAGE:
"The Bard is often accused of anatopism -- that is, getting his geography wrong. Why else would he, in The Taming of the Shrew, put a sailmaker in Bergamo, a landlocked city in Italy, ask critics?"
D. Murali; Shakespeare, 'Literary Equivalent of an Electron'; The Hindu (Chennai, India); Dec 2, 2007.

"Homer may have taken some slight and temporary liberty with the facts, but it does not amount to the major anatopism that some commentators have found in it and should not be taken as evidence that Homer did not have firsthand knowledge of the area."
John Victor Luce; Celebrating Homer's Landscapes; Yale University Press; 1998.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy. -George H. Lorimer, editor (1868-1937)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith