Word of the Day

: February 10, 2009

anecdote

noun AN-ik-doht

What It Means

: a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident

anecdote in Context

Pastor Andrews often included light-hearted anecdotes from his personal experience in his Sunday sermons.

Did You Know?

The Byzantine official Procopius wrote three historical works in Greek. In the first two, he dealt with wars and public works projects, but the third was something of a departure from this kind of history. Referred to as "Anekdota," from the Greek "a-" meaning "not," and "ekdidonai," meaning "to publish," it contained bitter attacks on the emperor Justinian, his wife, and other notables of contemporary Constantinople. Understandably, it was not published until after its writer's death. English speakers originally used an anglicized version of the book's name for similar secret or unpublished histories or biographies, and by the 17th century, the meaning of "anecdote" had been broadened to cover any interesting or amusing personal tale.