anotheris

Anotheris is a neologism used primarily in speculative fiction and informal philosophy to denote a hypothetical alternative instance of a person, object, or state that is treated as a separate entity despite sharing core properties with the original. The term is formed from the phrase "another is" and is intended to foreground the idea of an alternate version rather than a mere similarity.

Origins and scholarly status: Anotheris has no formal recognition in standard dictionaries or academic literature. It circulates mainly in online discussions, fan wikis, and some thought experiments as a lightweight device for exploring questions of identity, continuity, and responsibility when counterfactual variants are introduced.

Uses in narrative and analysis: In fiction and analysis, anotheris is invoked to imagine encounters with a counterpart who is similar in appearance or abilities but different in key decisions or values. Such scenarios probe how people determine identity across time, how agency is attributed, and how moral evaluation applies to alternate selves.

Relation to related concepts: The idea has affinities with doppelgängers, mirror selves, and parallel-universe concepts, but it emphasizes an explicit linguistic framing of the "another is" relation rather than merely a structural or metaphysical similarity.

See also: Doppelgänger, Alternate self, Parallel universe, Counterfactual, Identity.