See, in yesterday's "news", I coined a word, "anachthonism", for something that was associated with the wrong world (rather than, as an anachronism, the wrong time). Well, it then occurred to me to Google "anachthonism" to see if anyone had come up with the word before.

I found a single hit, from a discussion of Tolkien on a speculative fiction writing newsgroup, where a poster suggests it as a tentative answer to his wondering what "the 'place' version of anachronism... is".

"Anachorism," another poster supplies.

But a search on "anachorism" suggests it may not be the most appropriate word either. On another site, a blogger who for some reason calls himself "Wishydig" relates an exchange with an acquaintance who coined (or thought he coined) the word "anatopism" to mean "anachronism for a place". Wishydig, however, replies that "anachorism already works for that." Further points were brought up in favor of each word ("anatopism" turning out not only to already have been in use as a word, but to actually predate "anachorism"), Wishydig also bringing up the fact that the prefix "ana-" really isn't the appropriate one to use in any case, since it means "back" or "backward", and therefore "anachronism" would really mean not just in the wrong time, but specifically at too early a time (and of course similar objections would apply to "anachorism" and "anatopism"). He suggests "parachronism" or "metachronism" , both of which are cited in the Oxford English Dictionary, as a better alternative (and a commenter also proposes "exochronism").

Now, let's deal first with the objection about the prefix. Yes, etymologically Wishydig may have a point. But, etymologically questionable or not, "anachronism" has been well-established in the English language with its current meaning, and while both "metachronism" and "parachronism" may have appeared earlier in the English language according to the OED, "anachronism" is certainly by far the most common term for the concept today, and it seems like overzealous prescriptivism to recommend its disuse because it doesn't match the usual meaning of the prefix. As for Wishydig's assertion that "anachronism" should really mean before the proper time, as it happens there's already a word for that, "prochronism". As well as one for after the proper time—"parachronism", ironically one of the words Wishydig suggests as a replacement for "anachronism". So, anyway, if not on etymological grounds then certainly on grounds of extensive precedential use, I think it's more than acceptable to continue using "anachronism" in its firmly established meaning as "of the wrong time". And therefore, by analogy, I think, in the final analysis, it's perfectly reasonable to use the same prefix to form similar words referring to the wrong place.

So which word would I choose to fit what I meant to say yesterday? Anachorism or anatopism? The answer is neither, really. I'm sticking with anachthonism. Sure, I can accept both "anachorism" and "anatopism" as valid words—but they don't have quite the shades of meaning I want. "Anachorism", marked by the OED as a nonce-word, apparently refers specifically to placement in the wrong country. "Anatopism" seems broader, one of its two OED citations referring to books misplaced on a shelf, and the other to "Geographical blunders". Neither, however, refers to what I was trying to refer to, namely placement in the wrong world. So there is still a gap. A gap that "anachthonism" can fill.

(As for the complaint of Wishydig's interlocutor (interscriptor?) that "anachronism" and "anachorism" are too much alike... personally, I kind of like the similarity among "anachronism", "anachorism", and "anachthonism", and the fact that all three start with the same five letters. Of course, that leaves "anatopism" the odd word out...)

So. There you go. A new word. Anachthonism—The erroneous association of an object or feature with a world to which it does not pertain; or an object or feature thus associated.

Hooray.