Parachronism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Something mistakenly assigned to a historical period other than the one in which it actually occurred or existed
2. An anachronism involving the placement of a person, object, or event in a time period to which it does not belong
3. A misplacing of something in history so that it appears to exist in the wrong era or age

Etymology: "Parachronism" is a learned coinage built from two Greek elements: "para" meaning "beside" or "beyond," and "chronos" meaning "time," with the suffix "-ism" attached to form a noun for a thing, condition, or error. Together they describe something placed beside or outside its proper time. The pattern is the same as its near relative "anachronism," which uses "ana" ("against" or "backward") instead. The two words sit side by side in English dictionaries, and the distinction is one of degree and direction: an anachronism is something out of its correct period, while "parachronism" is a term for a misplacement in time relative to a neighbouring or parallel chronology. Because it follows so transparently from its parts, the word needs little more explanation than the Greek it borrows, and it is recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary.