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Apr 18, 2024
This week’s theme
Words made by combining forms

This week’s words
neophilia
pyrophobia
arithmomania
zoolatry
cryptogenic

zoolatry
Hermes dog bed, only $5,450
Photo: Hermes

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

zoolatry

PRONUNCIATION:
(zo-OL-uh-tree)

MEANING:
noun:
1. The worship of animals.
2. Extreme devotion to animals, for example, to one’s pets.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek zoo- (animal) + -latry (worship). Earliest documented use: 1784.

NOTES:
In Egypt they worshiped cats. In Greece it was goats. In India, cows. But they had nothing on modern pet worshipers. There are wines for dogs, collars with diamonds, and pet spa and massage therapists to keep our modern fur babies in bliss.
How do you pamper your pets? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org.

USAGE:
“Dolphins have dethroned Christ, but don’t be fooled by that smile. Around here, zoolatry is amping up.”
Anson Cameron; Can’t Find God? Try Flipper; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Nov 14, 2020.

See more usage examples of zoolatry in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. -Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (18 Apr 1857-1938)

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