different between anecdote vs icebreaker

English

Alternative forms

• anecdota (only attested in the plural (anecdotae), probably non-standard)
• anecdoton (Grecian)
• anecdotum (rare, Latinate)

Etymology

Late 17^th c., from French anecdote, from Ancient Greek ????????? (anékdotos, “accounts unpublished”), from ??- (an-, “not, un-”) + ??????? (ékdotos, “published”), from ???????? (ekdíd?mi, “I publish”), from ??- (ek-, “out”) + ?????? (díd?mi, “I give”).

Virtually identical cognates in other European languages – French anecdote, German Anekdote, Spanish anécdota, among others.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?æ.n?k.do?t/

Noun

anecdote (plural anecdotes)

1. A short account of a real incident or person, often humorous or interesting.
2. An account which supports an argument, but which is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis.
3. A previously untold secret account of an incident.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• data

Verb

anecdote (third-person singular simple present anecdotes, present participle anecdoting, simple past and past participle anecdoted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To tell anecdotes (about).
   • 1879, Eustace Clare Grenville Murray, That Artful Vicar

     They were all men of the same set, knowing one another intimately, and knowing the same people; so they fell to talking and anecdoting in such pleasant wise that dinner-time approached […]

   • 1986, Elliot L. Gilbert, Best Short Stories from the California Quarterly, 1971-1985 (page 101)

     Bob anecdoted the circus he and Jimmy had seen that afternoon.

Anagrams

• encoated, toe dance, toe-dance, toedance

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.n?k.d?t/

Noun

anecdote f (plural anecdotes)

1. anecdote

Descendants

• ? Russian: ???????? (anekdót) (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “anecdote” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Alternative forms

• ice breaker, ice-breaker

Etymology

ice +? breaker, in the figurative sense from the expression to break the ice.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?a?s?b?e?k??/

Noun

icebreaker (plural icebreakers)

1. A ship designed to break through ice so that it, or other ships coming behind, can navigate on frozen seas.

   Coordinate term: slushbreaker
2. (figuratively) A game, activity, humorous anecdote, etc., designed to relax a group of people to help them get to know each other.
3. (theater) A lively song and dance routine at the start of a musical.

Translations

See also

• break the ice
• passagemaker

Further reading

• icebreaker on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “icebreaker”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.