Anonymising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Removing or obscuring personal or identifying details from data or documents to protect privacy
2. Concealing or deleting specific information that could reveal identities within a set of records
3. Making information untraceable to individuals by eliminating or masking identifying characteristics

Etymology: "Anonymising" is the British spelling of "anonymizing," the present participle of "anonymise," which means to remove identifying details, such as names, from something so that its source cannot be traced. The verb rests on "anonymous," which comes from Greek "anōnymos," meaning "without a name," built from "an-" ("without") and "onoma" ("name"). The Greek root gives the verb its core idea: stripping away the name, or whatever else would reveal who something belongs to. English took "anonymous" from that Greek adjective, and the verb "anonymise" was later formed from it by adding the suffix "-ise," which turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning to make or treat something in a certain way. Because the verb is a formation built on the adjective, its meaning follows the same logic: to make something anonymous. Its frequent use in discussions of data, medical records and survey results reflects that sense of removing names from information.

Synonyms: masking, obscuring, hiding, concealing, disguising

Antonyms: revealing, disclosing, exposing, unveiling, showing