אָנֶקְדּוֹטָה (anekdota) — anecdote

Etymology

The word אָנֶקְדּוֹטָה has a surprisingly specific and colorful origin. In ancient Greek, the verb didomi meant "to give" in a general sense. If one wanted to specify giving something that was in one's possession or charge, one added the prefix ek- to get ekdidomi. This compound verb had a wide range of meanings: to release something unlawfully held, to give a daughter in marriage or a son for adoption, to rent out slaves and land, to publish a book, and more.

From ekdidomi, the Greeks derived the adjective ekdotos ("given out / published / released"). To negate this — to describe something "not given out" or "unpublished" — they added the prefix an- (the Greek equivalent of English "un-"), creating anekdotos. The word saw limited use in ancient Greek, but the surviving examples show it applied to two things: unmarried women not yet "given out" in marriage by their fathers, and manuscripts not yet released for publication by their authors.

This obscure Greek adjective became famous through one specific case. The 6th-century Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea served as legal advisor to the great general Belisarius and accompanied him throughout his celebrated campaigns. In addition to his official histories of Justinian's wars and buildings — which portray Justinian as a near-perfect ruler — Procopius apparently wrote a third book and hid it. We know of it from references in the Byzantine encyclopedia Suda (10th century), which mentions in its entry on Procopius a book "known as Anekdotos," meaning "the unpublished one."

Then, one day, a Vatican Library librarian found a 14th-century Greek manuscript. It was the "Anekdotos." It was published in a printed edition in 1623. The book was a sensation, because unlike Procopius's official histories, this one portrayed Justinian and his empress Theodora as monsters. One passage describes Justinian as "a cheat, crafty, dissembling, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel... never led to tears by joy or sorrow, though he could weep when the need arose... always lying, not just casually but in writing, even when he swore sacred oaths." Another passage claims that Justinian's head would detach from his body and float around the room. Theodora is described as having geese specially trained to eat barley seeds from her vagina — and enjoying this performed publicly.

The success of the "Anekdotos" inspired a genre: in 17th-century France, a series of books purportedly revealing the secrets of great personages were published under the title "Anecdota" (the Latin form of anekdotos). The genre and the word spread across Europe, and the word came to mean a short, piquant story — especially one revealing something private or surprising about a notable person. By the 18th century, "anecdote" was used for any short, usually amusing narrative about a real incident or person.

In Hebrew, the word appears in print as early as 1861, when it appears in a subtitle in Ha-Melitz about Louis IX and his astrologer: "a charming anecdote to enlighten."

Key Quotes

"אנקדוטה נחמדת להשכיל" — ״המליץ״, 1861 (כותרת משנה של סיפור קצר על לואי התשיעי)

Timeline

• Classical Greek: ekdidomi (to give out/publish); ekdotos (published); anekdotos (unpublished/unmarried)
• 6th century CE: Procopius writes his secret history, titles it "Anekdotos" (The Unpublished)
• 10th century: Byzantine encyclopedia Suda references the lost Anekdotos
• 1623: A Vatican librarian publishes the found Anekdotos — becomes a sensation
• 17th century France: Genre of "Anecdota" books emerges — revealing secrets of the great
• 18th century: "Anecdote" broadens to mean any short, amusing narrative about a real incident
• 1861: First documented Hebrew use, in Ha-Melitz subtitle

Related Words

• סִיפּוּר — story (general term)
• בְּדִיחָה — joke (a short humorous narrative)
• מַעֲשִׂיָּה — tale, story (often with folkloric connotation)
• פִּיקַנְטִי — piquant, spicy (the adjective used for anecdote-type stories)