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Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin began with what laboratory anomaly?

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anomaly

American  

[uh-nom-uh-lee] / əˈnɒm ə li /

noun

• anomalies
  plural

1. 

   a deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form.

   Synonyms:

   exception, aberration, abnormality

2. an anomalous person or thing; one that is abnormal or does not fit in.

   With his quiet nature, he was an anomaly in his exuberant family.

   Synonyms:

   exception, aberration, abnormality

3. an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.

4. an incongruity or inconsistency.

5. Astronomy. a quantity measured in degrees, defining the position of an orbiting body with respect to the point at which it is nearest to or farthest from its primary.

6. Meteorology. the amount of deviation of a meteorological quantity from the accepted normal value of that quantity.

7. Grammar. irregularity.

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anomaly British  

/ əˈnɒməlɪ /

noun

1. something anomalous

2. deviation from the normal or usual order, type, etc; irregularity

3. astronomy

   1. Also called: true anomaly. the angle between a planet, the sun, and the previous perihelion of the planet

   2. Also called: eccentric anomaly. the angle between the periapsis of a particular point on a circle round the orbit as seen from the centre of the orbit. This point is obtained by producing a perpendicular to the major axis of the ellipse through the orbiting body until it reaches the circumference of the circle

   3. Also called: mean anomaly. the angle between the periapsis of an orbit and the position of an imaginary body orbiting at a constant angular speed and in the same period as the real orbiting body

4. geology

   1. Also called: gravity anomaly. a deviation from the normal value of gravity at the earth's surface, caused by density differences at depth, for example those caused by a buried mineral body

   2. Also called: magnetic anomaly. a magnetic field, for example one produced by a buried mineral body, that deviates from an expected or standard value, usually that of the earth's magnetic field

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anomalistic
  adjective
• anomalistically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• anomalies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of anomaly

First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin anōmalia, from Greek anōmalía, equivalent to anṓmal(os) “irregular” + -ia noun suffix; see anomalous, -ia

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Explanation

An anomaly is an abnormality, a blip on the screen of life that doesn’t fit with the rest of the pattern. If you are a breeder of black dogs and one puppy comes out pink, that puppy is an anomaly. The noun anomaly comes from the Greek word anomolia, meaning "uneven” or “irregular.” When something is unusual compared to similar things around it, it’s the anomaly. If you are an Olympian who comes from a family of bookish types who all find it strenuous to walk the dog, you are an anomaly.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

anomaly anomalies

The benchmark for the definition is the sea-surface temperature anomaly in part of the Pacific Ocean, which is now at record levels.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

Even so, their results indicate that the carbon isotope anomaly preserved at Zaonega was driven mainly by events within the local sedimentary basin rather than by a global disturbance.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

The 24-year-old is still learning how to manage the anomaly, which allows her to continue running when one of the tendons is torn but may also make her more susceptible to breakdowns.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

So she just is an anomaly, and there’s no more questions around it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

And yet the square was now attracting a trickle of visitors who seemed to find the anomaly most intriguing.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

The results indicate that warm water anomalies occurring before and after a heatwave are largely independent of the MHW itself.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

Yet defensive AI can spot anomalies, trick and defeat AI hackers, and report threats at speeds humans cannot match.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

But there are always anomalies in even would-be wave years, and voters might think the Senate candidate is his brother is the stuff from which anomalies are made.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026

Temperature variations and anomalies in countries close to the equator are typically smaller than in temperate climates.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

Similarly, Wilhelm Friedrich Bessel predicted the existence of Neptune on the basis of anomalies in the orbit of Uranus.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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Related Words

• aberration
• abnormality
• deviation
• inconsistency
• irregularity
• oddity
• rarity

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