analects means the collected sayings of Confucius. It carries an Arena rating of 1655, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, analects ranks #549 of 13,220 for Most Sublime Words, #747 of 13,220 for Most Storied Words, #1,495 of 13,220 for Most Elegant Words, #2,231 of 13,220 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
analects is pronounced [ˈæ.nəˌlɛk(t)s].
Why “analects” is a great word
A collection of choice literary gleanings, sayings, or fragments gathered from a single source. Its etymology traces from Greek *análekta* ('things chosen'), neuter plural of *analektos*, from *analégein* ('to pick up, gather'), from *ana-* ('up') + *légein* ('to gather, pick'). The word entered English in the 1650s for scholarly harvests and was definitively applied to Confucius's sayings in James Legge's 1861 translation. Unlike an 'anthology,' a curated volume of complete works, or a 'compendium,' a systematic distillation of a field, analects are unsystematic cullings—the scattered treasures of a mind. It is the disciple's remembered table talk, the scholar's notebook of underlined passages, the mosaic pieced together from broken pottery found in different fields—a testament that the whole truth is often best approached through its brilliant, scattered parts.
Etymology
From James Legge's 1861 translation of the work's Mandarin Chinese title 論語 (Lúnyǔ). "Analects" itself is a 1658 Ancient Greek loanword from ἀνάλεκτα (análekta, “things chosen”), from ἀνα- (ana-, “up”) + λέγειν (légein, “to gather”). Compare lecture.
name
- The collected sayings of Confucius
noun
- A collection of excerpts or quotes.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- florilegium 83% match — A collection of flowers. vs analects →
- apothegm 82% match — A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim. vs analects →
- recueil 81% match — compendium, literary compilation vs analects →
- gnomology 81% match — A collection of, or a treatise on, maxims, grave sentences, or reflections. vs analects →
- sylloge 80% match — A collection or compendium, especially of coins or antiquarian objects. vs analects →
- apothegmatist 79% match — A collector or maker of apothegms. vs analects →
- confucian 79% match — Of, pertaining to, or conforming to the teachings of Confucius. vs analects →
- paremiography 79% match — The collecting of proverbs. vs analects →