an·ec·dote / ˈanikˌdōt/ • n. a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. | he had a rich store of anecdotes. ∎  an account regarded as unreliable or hearsay: his wife's death has long been the subject of rumor and anecdote. ∎  the depiction of a minor narrative incident in a painting.

anecdote †(pl.) secret history XVII; story of a detached incident XVIII. orig. pl. — modL. anecdota (or its deriv. F. anecdotes) — Gr. anékdota things unpublished, n. pl. pp. f. AN-2 + ek out + didónai give. Derived primarily from the title Anékdota of Procopius' unpublished memoirs (VII) of the private life of the Emperor Justinian and Theodora.
Hence anecdotage XIX.