anacronym

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anacronym

/əˈnæk.ɹə.nɪm/

Sounds like anachronym · Rhymes with -ækɹənɪm

Where it comes from

Perhaps blend of anachronism + acronym but perhaps an- + acronym, in either case indicating an acronymic word that has lost much of its acronymic identity because people usually no longer focus on the etymonic origin when using the word.

noun anacronyms

An acronym that is usually no longer thought of as such, but instead treated as a regular word and styled in lower case despite its etymological origin. When you write about using a waterproof laser pointer while scuba diving, you probably aren’t going to write about “a L.A.S.E.R. pointer for S.C.U.B.A. diving”, because the words laser and scuba are anacronyms.

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MLA

"anacronym." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/anacronym. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

anacronym. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/anacronym

Chicago

"anacronym." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/anacronym.

BibTeX

@misc{anacronym_2026,
  title = {anacronym},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/anacronym},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}