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Anon

Adverb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Soon; shortly afterward. It is an archaic or literary word for an imminent moment.

Detailed Definition
Anon gives a poem an older, storylike sense of time, suggesting that something will happen presently, though not necessarily at once. It appears naturally in ballads, romances, and deliberately archaic verse, where its briefness can quicken narration. A speaker may promise to return anon, or a narrator may announce that a storm rose anon after a calm. The word can create suspense by placing an event just beyond the current line or stanza.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Anon, the moon will climb above the hill” uses the archaic adverb to mean soon; The knight promises to return anon, giving the ballad an old-fashioned voice; “Anon” can delay an event briefly, as in “Anon the rain will cease”; In a medieval-style poem, “Come anon” means come shortly or at once
Additional Notes
Anon is an archaic adverb common in ballads, folk tales, and older verse; “He came anon” means he came soon or shortly. Its antique sound can establish historical distance, mock-formality, or a traditional voice, but may seem affected in plain contemporary diction. Compare presently, ere long, and by-and-by. Study hint: use it sparingly and let surrounding vocabulary support the older register.
Other Meanings of “Anon”
Also Known As
Soon Shortly Presently Ere long
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