anecdote

[In Sw. anekdot; Dan. & Ger. anekdote; Dut. & Fr. anecdote; Port. anekdota ; Ital. an eddo to ; Gr. ἀνέκδοτος ( anck dotos) something not published, but kept secret: av (an), priv., and ἔκδοτος ( ekodotos ) = given out; ἐκ (ek) = out, and δοτός ( dotos ) = granted; δίδωμι ( didōmi ) = to give.] 1. Originally something kept unpublished, secret history, or an ancient work not in fact published, though there was no intention of keeping its contents undivulged. The best collection of anecdotes, in this first sense of the word, is generally said to have been that of Muratori, in A. D. 1709: but the thing, if not the name, must have been much older. "Some modern anecdotes aver, He nodded in his elbow chair." Prior. 2. A short but generally striking narrative of some single event in a person's history, related generally with a view of exhibiting his characteristic peculiarities. Among the best collections of anecdotes, in the modern sense, are the "Percy Anecdotes," sent forth by George Byerley and Joseph Clinton Robinson.