A state of lawlessness or social breakdown where rules, norms, and standards lose their force and meaning in society.
From Greek 'anomia' (lawlessness) combining 'a-' (without) and 'nomos' (law). An older variant spelling of 'anomie,' still used in some contexts.
Anomy and anomie are basically the same word—but 'anomy' is older and fell out of fashion. It's like how we stopped saying 'wireless telegraph' and just said 'radio,' but the old term pops up in dusty books.
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