different between anonymity vs obscurity

English

Etymology

anonym +? -ity, the root from French anonyme and ultimately from Ancient Greek ???????? (an?numos).

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /æn??n?m?ti/

Noun

anonymity (countable and uncountable, plural anonymities)

1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being anonymous; anonymousness. [from 19th c.]
   • 1976, Joni Mitchell, "Song for Sharon":

     Now there are twenty-nine skaters on Wollman Rink

     Circling in singles and in pairs

     In this vigorous anonymity
2. (countable) That which is anonymous.

Related terms

Translations

References

• James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928) , “Anonymity”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 347, column 3.
• anonymity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Etymology

From Middle French obscurité, from Latin obsc?rit?s; synchronically analyzable as obscure +? -ity

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj????ti/, /?b?skj????ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj???ti/, /?b?skj??ti/
• Hyphenation: ob?scur?ity

Noun

obscurity (countable and uncountable, plural obscurities)

1. (literary) Darkness; the absence of light.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 24

     I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.

2. The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown.
3. The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.

Synonyms

• (the state of being unknown): unknownness

Antonyms

• (the state of being known): fame
• (the state of being clear): clarity

Related terms

• obscure

Translations