Trivia Time

What type of anecdotes did 6th-century historian Procopius tell in his book Anekdota?

Test Your Knowledge

anecdote

American  

[an-ik-doht] / ˈæn ɪkˌdoʊt /

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 British  

/ ˈænɪkˌdəʊt /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

• anecdotalist
  noun
• anecdotic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of anecdote

First recorded in 1670–80; from New Latin anecdota or French anecdotes, from Late Greek, Greek anékdota “things unpublished” (referring particularly to Procopius's unpublished memoirs of Justinian and Theodora), neuter plural of anékdotos, equivalent to an- an- ¹ + ékdotos “given out,” adjective derivative of ekdidónai “to give out,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

Compare meaning

How does anecdote compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• anecdote vs. antidote

Explanation

A short, amusing true story is an anecdote. You might come back from a crazy spring break with a lot of anecdotes to tell. The roots of anecdote lie in the Greek word anekdota, meaning "unpublished." The word's original sense in English was "secret or private stories" — tales not fit for print, so to speak. It can still have connotations of unreliability, as in the phrase "anecdotal information." But the most common sense today is that of "a funny story about something that happened."

Example Sentences

“Empire of Skulls” concludes with an anecdote that neatly captures the theory’s waning influence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

But it was the article’s opening anecdote that drew the most chatter online because it portrayed Patel as hyper-paranoid.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

And Wiseman relayed an amusing anecdote about Canadian Hansen, whose trip around the Moon was also his first time in space.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

On the anecdote side, there are examples such as the Philippines declaring a national fuel emergency, South Korea restricting public-sector vehicle use and Australia seeing many fuel stations running out of gasoline.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

An anecdote that Benjamin Rush, the Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, liked to tell in his old age makes the point memorably.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

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