anthology

noun

an·​thol·​o·​gy an-ˈthä-lə-jē 

plural anthologies

1

: a collection of selected literary pieces or passages or works of art or music

an anthology of American poetry

2

: assortment

… an anthology of threadbare clichés of … bistro cuisine …

—Jay Jacobs

anthological

ˌan(t)-thə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

Synonyms

• album
• collectanea
• compendium
• compilation
• florilegium
• miscellany
• reader

Examples of anthology in a Sentence

an anthology of American poetry

The band will be releasing an anthology of their earlier albums.

Recent Examples on the Web

Still Waters – Second chapter in APC’s The Light in the Hall anthology, picking up two years on from where Season 1 left off, as Caryl Huws (Sian Reese-Williams) decides to follow her dream of going back into education to become a journalist. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 19 Feb. 2025

Directive 8020 Supermassive Games is back with another Dark Pictures anthology interactive horror movie. —Jordan Minor, PCMAG, 13 Feb. 2025

The next installment in Supermassive's Dark Pictures anthology of horror video games has been on our radar for quite some time, but its story and characters remained a mystery. —Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 13 Feb. 2025

Directive 8020 – October 2, 2025 Supermassive Games, the developer of the Dark Pictures anthology, has revealed the next game in the series, Directive 8020, a futuristic sci-fi horror game. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & New Latin; French anthologie, going back to Middle French, borrowed from New Latin anthologia, borrowed from Greek anthología "gathering of flowers," from anthológos "flower-gathering" (from antho- antho- + -logos, nominal ablaut derivative of légein "to gather, collect") + -ia -ia entry 1 — more at legend

Note: The sense "collection of extracts" is found earlier in the parallel formation anthológion, attested in Byzantine Greek.

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for anthology

• apology
• astrology
• biology
• christology
• chronology
• conchology
• cosmology
• cryptology
• cytology
• doxology
• ecology
• ethnology

Kids Definition

anthology

noun

an·​thol·​o·​gy an-ˈthäl-ə-jē 

plural anthologies

: a collection of literary pieces

anthologist

-jəst

noun