Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts. In genre fiction anthology is used to categorize collections of shorter works such as short stories and short novels, usually collected into a single volume for publication.

The complete collections of works are often called Complete Works or Opera Omnia (Latin language equivalent).

Etymology

The word entered the English language in the seventeenth century, from the Greek word, ἀνθολογία (anthologia "a collection of flowers"), a reference to one of the earliest known anthologies, the Garland (Στέφανος), the introduction to which compares each of its anthologized poets to a flower. That Garland by Meléagros of Gadara formed the kernel for what has become known as the Greek Anthology.

Florilegium, a Latin derivative for a collection of flowers, was used in medieval Europe for an anthology of Latin proverbs and textual excerpts. Shortly before anthology had entered the language, English had begun using as a word for such a collection.