anonymous

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   having no known name or identity or known source

   anonymous authors

2. 2
   adj

   not known or lacking marked individuality

   brown anonymous houses

3. 3
   adj

   Without any name acknowledged of a person responsible.

   an anonymous pamphlet

4. 4
   adj

   Of unknown name; whose name is withheld

   an anonymous author

5. 5
   adj

   Lacking individuality.

   an anonymous office block in a soulless industrial estate

6. 6
   adj

   Lacking a name; not named, for example an animal not assigned to any species .

7. 7
   name

   A decentralized hacktivist group that conducts cyberattacks opposing primarily Internet censorship and government corruption.

8. 8
   name

   A member of an anonymous imageboard website, especially of 4chan.

Etymology

Borrowed into English around 1600 from Late Latin anonymus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νώνῠμος (ănṓnŭmos, “without name”), from ᾰ̓ν- (ăn-, “un-”) with ὄνῠμᾰ (ónŭmă), Aeolic and Doric dialectal form of ὄνομᾰ (ónomă, “name”). English equivalent anonym + -ous, its full etymology being an- + -onym + -ous.