Anecdote
late 17th century: from French, or via modern Latin from Greek anekdota ‘things unpublished’, from an- ‘not’ + ekdotos, from ekdidōnai ‘publish’.
wiktionary
Late 17th c., from French anecdote, from Ancient Greek ἀνέκδοτος(anékdotos, “accounts unpublished”), from ἀν-(an-, “not, un-”) + ἔκδοτος(ékdotos, “published”), from ἐκδίδωμι(ekdídōmi, “I publish”), from ἐκ-(ek-, “out”) + δίδωμι(dídōmi, “I give”).
Virtually identical cognates in other European languages – French anecdote, German Anekdote, Spanish anécdota, among others.
etymonline
anecdote (n.)
1670s, "secret or private stories," from French anecdote (17c.) or directly from Medieval Latin anecdota, from Greek anekdota "things unpublished," neuter plural of anekdotos, from an- "not" (see an- (1)) + ekdotos "published," from ek- "out" (see ex-) + didonai "to give" (from PIE root *do- "to give").
Procopius' 6c. Anecdota, unpublished memoirs of Emperor Justinian full of court gossip, gave the word a sense of "revelation of secrets," which decayed in English to "brief, amusing story" (1761).
