cynosure
/ˈsaɪnɔːˌsɜː/SIGH-naw-sur
/ˈsaɪnɔˌsɝ/SIGH-naw-sur
Meaningthe dog's tail
Common meaning: the centre of attention
- cyna dogLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 459 · scan
- osuretail (Greek oura)
Journey through time
- Greekκύων, κυνός‘a dog’
- Latincynosura
- Englishcynosure‘the centre of attention’ · today
cyn also in: cynic
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek κύων ‘a dog’.
Roots
- κύων, κυνός Greek “a dog”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app