You searched for: “anomaly
anomaly (s) (noun), anomalies (pl)
1. Deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule.
2. Anything that is peculiar, strange, irregular, abnormal, or difficult to classify.
3. In astronomy, the angle in a planet's orbit or the angle between a planet's position, the sun, and the point in the planet's orbit when it is closest to the sun; or the angular deviation, as observed from the sun, of a planet from its perihelion.
4. An odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc. and an incongruity or inconsistency.
5. People or things that are different from what is usual, or not in agreement with something else and therefore not satisfactory: "The government's statistical anomalies can make it difficult to compare economic data from one year to the next."
6. Abnormalities or deviations: "Anomalies is a word among computer people when complex systems produce outputs that are inexplicable or unexplainable."
7. Etymology: from Latin anomalia, from Greek anomalia, noun of quality from anomalos, "uneven, irregular"; from an-, "not" + homalos, "even", from homos, "same".
Irregularity from what is considered to be normal.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
for a list of additional Mickey Bach illustrations.

This entry is located in the following unit: anomalo-, anomal- (page 1)
Word Entries containing the term: “anomaly
anomaly finder
A device for measuring abnormalities in seismic, gravitational, magnetic, and other factors; used in locating underwater deposits.
This entry is located in the following unit: anomalo-, anomal- (page 1)
genital anomaly; birth defect
Intrauterine development of an organ or structure that is abnormal in form, structure, or position.

A birth defect caused by a structural abnormality or a marked deviation from the average or norm; anything that is structurally unusual or irregular or contrary to a general rule; such as, a congenital defect.

There are four clinically significant medical types of anomalies: malformation, disruption, deformation, and dysplasia (abnormal in form; for example, retinal dysplasia is abnormal formation of the retina during embryonic development).

This entry is located in the following unit: anomalo-, anomal- (page 2)
geochemical anomaly (s) (noun), geochemical anomalies (pl)
In geochemistry, an unusually high concentration of one or more chemical elements in a sample of rock, soil, vegetation, or water: A geochemical anomaly is a high concentration of hydrocarbons in soil which often indicates a nearby mineral deposit.