anthology

noun

an·​thol·​o·​gy an-ˈthä-lə-jē 

plural anthologies

1

: a collection of selected literary pieces or passages or works of art or music

an anthology of American poetry

2

: assortment

… an anthology of threadbare clichés of … bistro cuisine …

—Jay Jacobs

anthological

ˌan(t)-thə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

Synonyms

• compilation

Examples of anthology in a Sentence

an anthology of American poetry

The band will be releasing an anthology of their earlier albums.

Recent Examples on the Web

Following the success of 2022’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan returned for an even more provocative second season of the anthology series with Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. —Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2025

Black Mirror fans will soon be able to experience the dystopian world of their favorite satirical sci-fi anthology series in graphic-novel form, and publisher Twisted Comics is giving a free preview of what’s to come. —Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025

That Girl Lay Lay alum Cooper recently starred in Season 2 of Hulu and Disney+’s anthology series Goosebumps and joined the CW’s All American as recurring and was seen in the coming-of-age movie Almost Popular. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2025

Was that always in the back of your minds, to make this an anthology series? —Michael Schneider, Variety, 11 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & New Latin; French anthologie, going back to Middle French, borrowed from New Latin anthologia, borrowed from Greek anthología "gathering of flowers," from anthológos "flower-gathering" (from antho- antho- + -logos, nominal ablaut derivative of légein "to gather, collect") + -ia -ia entry 1 — more at legend

Note: The sense "collection of extracts" is found earlier in the parallel formation anthológion, attested in Byzantine Greek.

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for anthology

• apology
• astrology
• biology
• christology
• chronology
• conchology
• cosmology
• cryptology
• cytology
• doxology
• ecology
• ethnology

Kids Definition

anthology

noun

an·​thol·​o·​gy an-ˈthäl-ə-jē 

plural anthologies

: a collection of literary pieces

anthologist

-jəst

noun