anomalist
|a-nom-a-list|
🇺🇸
/əˈnɑːməlɪst/
🇬🇧
/əˈnɒməlɪst/
person who studies anomalies
Etymology
'anomalist' originates from English, specifically formed from 'anomaly' + the agent suffix '-ist', where 'anomaly' ultimately comes from Greek 'anōmalos' meaning 'uneven, irregular'.
'anōmalos' (Greek) passed into Late Latin/Medieval Latin as 'anomalīa'/'anomalia', entered Middle French/Latin vocabularies and then Middle English as 'anomaly', and modern English formed 'anomalist' by adding '-ist' to denote a person associated with anomalies.
Initially the root meant 'uneven' or 'irregular' in Greek; over time it came to mean 'an irregularity or deviation from the norm' in English, and 'anomalist' developed as 'a person concerning themselves with such irregularities'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who studies, researches, or documents anomalies—irregular, unexplained, or atypical phenomena (often used in the context of anomalous or paranormal research).
The anomalist published a report on a series of unexplained lights sighted along the coast.
Synonyms
Noun 2
a person who collects or catalogs oddities and deviations from normal patterns (a collector or chronicler of curiosities).
As an anomalist, she kept a notebook of curiosities—from medical oddities to strange weather events.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/08/17 22:36