anecdote

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a short, often interesting or humorous account of a real incident

   She opened the lecture with a funny anecdote.

2. 2
   noun

   a personal story used as evidence, often without broader proof

   One anecdote cannot prove the policy works.

Late 17ᵗʰ c., from French anecdote, from Ancient Greek ἀνέκδοτος (anékdotos, “accounts unpublished”), from ἀν- (an-, “not, un-”) + ἔκδοτος (ékdotos, “published”), from ἐκδίδωμι (ekdídōmi, “I publish”), from ἐκ- (ek-, “out”) + δίδωμι (dídōmi, “I give”). Virtually identical cognates in other European languages – French anecdote, German Anekdote, Spanish anécdota, among others.

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