anachronize

English

Alternative forms

anachronise

Etymology

From anachronism +‎ -ize. From New Latin anachronismus, from Ancient Greek ἀναχρονισμός (anakhronismós), from ἀναχρονίζομαι (anakhronízomai, “referring to the wrong time”), from ἀνά (aná, “up against”) + χρονίζω (khronízō, “spending time”), from χρόνος (khrónos, “time”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈnækɹənaɪz/

• Audio (US):

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Verb

anachronize (third-person singular simple present anachronizes, present participle anachronizing, simple past and past participle anachronized)

1. To refer to, or put into, a wrong time period.
   • 1873, James Russell Lowell, “Shakespeare Once More”, in Among My Books, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, page 198:

     The only fair comparison would be between him and that one of his contemporaries who endeavored to anachronize himself, so to speak, and to subject his art, so far as might be, to the laws of classical composition.

Related terms

• anachronism
• anachronistic

Translations

to refer to, or put into, a wrong time

• Portuguese: anacronizar

References

• “anachronize”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.