[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/anachronism.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / anachronism

[← A](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/A/)

# anachronism

«anachronism» in Mova's school dictionary: **Something put in the wrong time, especially in a story or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an anachronism, anachronisms)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Something put in the wrong time, especially in a story or picture, like a wristwatch on a Roman soldier. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#m1)

2) A person, custom or thing that seems old-fashioned and belongs to an earlier time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In history and reading lessons, spotting an anachronism means noticing that something could not have existed then; it tells the reader a writer or film-maker made a mistake or is playing a joke. Phrases: «a glaring anachronism», «a bit of an anachronism», «spot the anachronism».

### examples

- The film showed a knight with a mobile phone, which is a funny anachronism. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x1)
- Can you spot the anachronism in this picture of ancient Egypt? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x2)
- A clock striking in Julius Caesar's Rome is an anachronism, because such clocks did not exist yet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x3)
- Some people think writing cheques is an anachronism now that we pay by phone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x4)
- Grandad says the old red phone box is a lovely anachronism. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x5)
- Our teacher hid three anachronisms in the story about the Vikings. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x6)
- A dinosaur next to cavemen is a famous anachronism in cartoons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x7)
- The steam train in the medieval story was an anachronism. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x8)
- My battery captain called me a Pachydermatous Anachronism the other day.” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/#x9)

### note

Countable noun; plural «anachronisms». Adjective «anachronistic». Pronounced a-NAK-ro-nism. Do not confuse with «acronym» (a word made from first letters, like NASA). Dinosaurs and people never lived at the same time, so cartoons showing them together are anachronisms, not history.

### In the corpora

- [If the thing is younger than the scene, you have found an anachronism.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/87-olympiad-spot-the-anachronism/3/)
- [An anachronism is something that belongs to another time, such as a Roman soldier with a wristwatch or a Viking with a smartphone.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/87-olympiad-spot-the-anachronism/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «anachronism» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/anachronism/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.