anonymity

From anonym (“anonymous person”) +‎ -ity.

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ænəˈnɪmɪti/

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anonymity (countable and uncountable, plural anonymities)

1. (uncountable) The quality or state of being anonymous. [from 19th c.]

   Synonym: anonymousness

   Antonym: onymity

   Coordinate terms: (sometimes synonymous) namelessness, unnamedness

   • 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

   • 2017, Di Zou, James Lambert, “Feedback methods for student voice in the digital age”, in British Journal of Educational Technology, volume 48, number 5, page 1085:

     Although the pen-and-paper questionnaires did not require students to give their names, the potential for the teacher to be able to recognise handwriting of individual students led to the perceived loss of anonymity.

   • 2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 55:

     "It really took off. People would literally come up to me in the street in New York saying 'Hey, Train Daddy, how's it goin'?'
     "I am quite enjoying the anonymity of London so far..."
     Given the high-profile task ahead of him, that isn't going to last for long.

2. (countable) That which is anonymous.
   • 2006, Jatindra Mohan Mohanty, History of Oriya Literature, page 516:

     In one sense the protagonist is the poet himself, but in another sense he is an anonymity.

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