This week’s theme
Perfect synonyms

This week’s words
polyhistor
bombinate
echoism
cynophilist
timbrology

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(sy-NOH-fi-list)

MEANING:

noun: One who loves dogs.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek kyon (dog) + -philia (love). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwon- (dog), which also gave us canine, chenille (from French chenille: caterpillar, literally, little dog), kennel, canary, hound, dachshund, corgi, cynic, cynegetic, cynophobia, cynosure, and canaille. Earliest documented use: 1890. A perfect synonym of today’s word is philocynic.

USAGE:

“While man’s control of dogs underlies the dog owner’s declaration of love, cat people enjoy admitting that cats are smarter than they are, and, having been anointed by cats, they themselves are, therefore, somehow superior to cynophilists.”
Mark Cushing; Pet Nation; Penguin; 2020.

“There will also be a tofu dog and a Bahn Mi dog, and for the gluten-free cynophilist, dogs will come wrapped in lettuce.”
What’s Cookin’; Arkansas Times (Little Rock); May 25, 2017.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: