Anonymus

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. The Latin adjective meaning without a name, used of a work or person whose author or identity is unknown
2. A Latin term describing something that bears no name, such as a text whose writer has not been identified
3. Latin for nameless, applied to a writer or creator whose identity has been withheld or lost to history

Etymology: In Greek, "anōnymos" was built from "an-", meaning "without", and "onoma", meaning "name", so its literal sense was simply "nameless." The second element is the same root that gives English "name," since both trace back to a common ancestor in the Indo-European languages. Latin took the term as "anonymus," and English adopted it with the same core meaning. It is most often applied to writings or gifts whose author or giver is unknown or deliberately withheld.