Anonymizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Removes personal or identifying information from data or records to protect privacy
2. Strips away details that can reveal individual identities in datasets or documents
3. Conceals identity-related information so that subjects cannot be recognized in the data

Etymology: The word "anonymizes" is the third-person singular form of "anonymize," which English built from "anonym," a shortened form of "anonymous." That adjective traces back to Ancient Greek "anṓnumos," meaning "nameless," formed from the negating prefix "an-" and "ónuma," "name." Greek writers used it of people who went unnamed, and it passed into Late Latin as "anonymus" before reaching English. The verb itself is a much later creation. English took the Middle French suffix "-iser," which came from Late Latin "-izāre" and ultimately from Greek "-ízein," and attached it to "anonym(ous)." The result is a modern coinage for the act of removing names and identifying details from information, so that a record can be studied or shared without exposing who it describes.

Synonyms: obfuscates, conceals, hides, disguises, camouflages

Antonyms: identifies, reveals, exposes, discloses, uncovers