anthology

noun an·thol·o·gy \ an-ˈthä-lə-jē \

Definition of anthology

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

play \ˌan(t)-thə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\ adjective

See anthology defined for English-language learners

See anthology defined for kids

Examples of anthology in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of anthology from the Web

In addition to having her works published in numerous literary journals and anthologies, several of her poems have been performed in stage productions.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Loss And Affirmation: The Poems Of Julia Morris Paul," 18 July 2017
The case, which has generated years of attention, will be featured in the next season of Ryan Murphy‘s anthology drama American Crime Story, on FX.

— adam carlson, PEOPLE.com, "Gianni Versace’s Cold-Blooded Murder Outside His Mansion — 20 Years Later: ‘There Was Extraordinary Pain’," 14 July 2017
The company at present is producing a new Matthew Weiner anthology and a new David O. Russell series, both for Amazon.

— brian steinberg, chicagotribune.com, "Tamron Hall to develop new talk show with Weinstein Television," 12 July 2017
The recent Oscar winner is in talks to star in a possible third season of the anthology series, EW has confirmed, though a deal has not been reached.

— oliver gettell, PEOPLE.com, "Mahershala Ali in Talks for Potential Third Season of True Detective," 1 July 2017
In its first two seasons, creator Noah Hawley's anthology series did the impossible.

— kristi turnquist, OregonLive.com, "'Fargo,' 'Better Call Saul,' 'The Leftovers,' 'The Americans': Did they soar or stumble?," 29 June 2017
Often, the Zohar reads like modern poetry, as in this depiction of the creation of the world from Genesis (which Matt renders in verse in an anthology of selections from the Zohar):

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "Zohar's Translation Unlocks the Secrets of Jewish Mysticism in an Age of Extremism," 28 June 2017
Everything about the premiere of FX's newest anthology series from Ryan Murphy is sublime.

— mehera bonner, Marie Claire, "These Are the Best TV Shows of 2017," 27 June 2017
That July, his former home on Spring Street was used to film a segment of a B-movie horror anthology.

— mike danahey, Elgin Courier-News, "Ex-lawmaker convicted of child porn dies in prison," 21 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'anthology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of anthology

New Latin anthologia collection of epigrams, from Middle Greek, from Greek, flower gathering, from anthos flower + logia collecting, from legein to gather; akin to Sanskrit andha herb — more at legend

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1624

See Words from the same year