Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin "ancora", which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα ("ankura").
Anchor modeling
Anchor tables contain a single column in which identities are stored. An identity is assumed to be the only property of an entity that is always present and immutable. As identities are rarely available from the domain being modeled, they are instead technically generated, e g from an incrementing number sequence.