Adjacent Words

Anomaly definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ANOM'ALY, n. [Gr. inequality, equal, similar.]
1. Irregularity; deviation from the common rule; thus oxen, the plural of ox, is an anomaly, in grammar, as the regular plural would be oxes.
2. In astronomy, an irregularity in the motion of a planet, whereby it deviates from the aphelion or apogee.
3. In music, a false scale or interval.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule [syn: anomaly, anomalousness]
2: a person who is unusual [syn: anomaly, unusual person]
3: (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun)

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -lies) Date: 1603 1. the angular distance of a planet from its perihelion as seen from the sun 2. deviation from the common rule ; irregularity 3. something anomalous ; something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified

NOAA Weather Glossary

The deviation of (usually) temperature or precipitation in a given region over a specified period from the normal value for the same region.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 an anomalous circumstance or thing; an irregularity. 2 irregularity of motion, behaviour, etc. 3 Astron. the angular distance of a planet or satellite from its last perihelion or perigee. Etymology: L f. Gk anomalia f. anomalos ANOMALOUS

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Anomaly A*nom"a*ly, n.; pl. Anomalies. [L. anomalia, Gr. ?. See Anomalous.] 1. Deviation from the common rule; an irregularity; anything anomalous. We are enabled to unite into a consistent whole the various anomalies and contending principles that are found in the minds and affairs of men. --Burke. As Professor Owen has remarked, there is no greater anomaly in nature than a bird that can not fly. --Darwin. 2. (Astron.) (a) The angular distance of a planet from its perihelion, as seen from the sun. This is the true anomaly. The eccentric anomaly is a corresponding angle at the center of the elliptic orbit of the planet. The mean anomaly is what the anomaly would be if the planet's angular motion were uniform. (b) The angle measuring apparent irregularities in the motion of a planet. 3. (Nat. Hist.) Any deviation from the essential characteristics of a specific type.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(anomalies) If something is an anomaly, it is different from what is usual or expected. (FORMAL) The British public's wariness of opera is an anomaly in Europe. = oddity N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Irregularity, abnormity, singularity, peculiarity, unconformity, eccentricity, monstrosity.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrance, aberrancy, aberration, abnormality, abnormity, amorphism, anomalism, anomalousness, conceit, conversation piece, crackpotism, crank, crankiness, crankism, crosspatch, crotchet, crotchetiness, curio, curiosity, derangement, deviancy, deviation, difference, differentness, divergence, dottiness, eccentricity, erraticism, erraticness, exception, freak, freakiness, freakishness, heteromorphism, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, improbability, impropriety, inadmissibility, inapplicability, inappositeness, inappropriateness, inaptitude, inaptness, individualist, infelicity, inferiority, inner-directed person, irregularity, irrelevance, irrelevancy, kink, maggot, maladjustment, mannerism, mesalliance, misalliance, misfit, misjoinder, misjoining, mismatch, monstrosity, museum piece, naysayer, nonconformist, nonconformity, nonesuch, oddball, oddity, peculiarity, prodigiosity, prodigy, queerness, quip, quirk, quirkiness, rarity, singularity, sport, strange thing, strangeness, subnormality, superiority, teratism, trick, twist, uncongeniality, unconventionality, unfitness, unnaturalism, unnaturalness, unsuitability, whim, whimsicality, whimsy