anecdote

[an-ik-doht]

noun

plural

anecdotes, anecdota 

1. a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature.

2. a short, obscure historical or biographical account.

anecdote

/ ˈænɪkˌdəʊt /

noun

1. a short usually amusing account of an incident, esp a personal or biographical one

Other Word Forms

• anecdotic adjective
• anecdotalist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of anecdote¹

First recorded in 1670–80; from New Latin anecdota or French anecdotes, from Late Greek, Greek anékdota “things unpublished” (referring particularly to Procopius's unpublished memoirs of Justinian and Theodora), neuter plural of anékdotos, equivalent to an- an- ¹ + ékdotos “given out,” adjective derivative of ekdidónai “to give out, publish” ( ek- ec- + didónai “to give”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of anecdote¹

C17: from Medieval Latin anecdota unpublished items, from Greek anekdotos unpublished, from _an- + ekdotos published, from ekdidonai, from ek- out + didonai to give

Example Sentences

One anecdote from the report claims that when Patel traveled to Utah following the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, he “refused” to leave his plane without wearing an FBI raid jacket.

Read more on Salon

Varoufakis might agree, I suspect, that the Summers anecdote, which he presents in a mildly self-ironizing mode, reflects less well on him now than it did at the time.

Read more on Salon

“It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any interesting anecdotes in there because some Fed officials might lean on that a little bit more,” Clark adds.

Read more on Barron's

While standing in line, fans were chatting, sharing anecdotes of listening to Miller’s music or memories of when they saw him perform at Camp Flog Gnaw many years ago.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

These anecdotes and data points could become more commonplace in the months to come.

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Related Words

• episode 
• gag 
• narration 
• narrative 
• reminiscence 
• short story 
• sketch 
• tale 
• tall tale 
• yarn