Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Faulty or incongruous arrangement; specifically, in art, an inharmonious grouping of objects.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rare A thing that is out of its proper place; the geographic counterpart to anachronism.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἀνά ("against") and τόπος ("place"); apparently by analogy with anachronism.

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Examples

  • Plautus 'frequent forgetfulness of his Greek environment and the interjection of Roman references -- what De Quincey calls "anatopism" -- is another item of careless composition too well known to need more than passing mention.

    The Dramatic Values in Plautus Wilton Wallace Blanck�� 1916

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