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Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin began with what laboratory anomaly?

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anomaly

American  

[uh-nom-uh-lee] / əˈnɒm ə li /

noun

• anomalies
  plural

1. 

   a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form.

   Synonyms:

   exception, aberration, abnormality

2. an anomalous person or thing; one that is abnormal or does not fit in.

   With his quiet nature, he was an anomaly in his exuberant family.

   Synonyms:

   exception, aberration, abnormality

3. an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.

4. an incongruity or inconsistency.

5. Astronomy. a quantity measured in degrees, defining the position of an orbiting body with respect to the point at which it is nearest to or farthest from its primary.

6. Meteorology. the amount of deviation of a meteorological quantity from the accepted normal value of that quantity.

7. Grammar. irregularity.

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anomaly British  

/ əˈnɒməlɪ /

noun

1. something anomalous

2. deviation from the normal or usual order, type, etc; irregularity

3. astronomy

   1. Also called: true anomaly.  the angle between a planet, the sun, and the previous perihelion of the planet

   2. Also called: eccentric anomaly.  the angle between the periapsis of a particular point on a circle round the orbit as seen from the centre of the orbit. This point is obtained by producing a perpendicular to the major axis of the ellipse through the orbiting body until it reaches the circumference of the circle

   3. Also called: mean anomaly.  the angle between the periapsis of an orbit and the position of an imaginary body orbiting at a constant angular speed and in the same period as the real orbiting body

4. geology

   1. Also called: gravity anomaly.  a deviation from the normal value of gravity at the earth's surface, caused by density differences at depth, for example those caused by a buried mineral body

   2. Also called: magnetic anomaly.  a magnetic field, for example one produced by a buried mineral body, that deviates from an expected or standard value, usually that of the earth's magnetic field

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anomalistic
  adjective
• anomalistically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• anomalies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of anomaly

First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin anōmalia, from Greek anōmalía, equivalent to anṓmal(os) “irregular” + -ia noun suffix; see anomalous, -ia

Explanation

An anomaly is an abnormality, a blip on the screen of life that doesn’t fit with the rest of the pattern. If you are a breeder of black dogs and one puppy comes out pink, that puppy is an anomaly. The noun anomaly comes from the Greek word anomolia, meaning "uneven” or “irregular.” When something is unusual compared to similar things around it, it’s the anomaly. If you are an Olympian who comes from a family of bookish types who all find it strenuous to walk the dog, you are an anomaly.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

anomaly anomalies

But Liniger, front and center as a co-founder and leader of one of the industry’s most dominant companies, would remain an anomaly for many more years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The 24-year-old is still learning how to manage the anomaly, which allows her to continue running when one of the tendons is torn but may also make her more susceptible to breakdowns.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

That phase is starting to look like a historical anomaly.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

In some San Diego area beaches, Guidera says, queer representation can still feel like an anomaly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

When seven-year-old Bobby, accompanied by his mother, walked into the Brooklyn Chess Club for the first time on a Friday night in January 1951, he was an anomaly.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

But there are always anomalies in even would-be wave years, and voters might think the Senate candidate is his brother is the stuff from which anomalies are made.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026

Latest forecasts from the Met Office suggest that these temperature anomalies could exceed 3C later this year as El Niño nears its peak.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

"There must be a lot of hot material near the surface to generate so many thermal anomalies," said Simon Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

"Seasonal-average sea-surface temperature anomalies expected to exceed 2C in key monitoring regions," it said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

These, detached in our minds from all the rest, we take to be unnatural events, anomalies, outrages.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Related Words

• aberration
• abnormality
• deviation
• inconsistency
• irregularity
• oddity
• rarity