cynosure

WOTD - 16 March 2010    

English

Etymology

From French cynosure (“Ursa Minor; Polaris”), from Latin Cynosūra (“Ursa Minor”), from Ancient Greek Κυνόσουρα (Kunosoura, “Ursa Minor”), literally “dog’s tail’, from κυνός (kunos, “dog's”) + οὐρά (oura, “tail”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsaɪnəˌʃʊr/, SAMPA: /"saIn@%SUr/

  Hyphenation: cy‧no‧sure

  Rhymes: -aɪnəʃʊə

Noun

cynosure (plural cynosures)

1. (figuratively) That which serves to guide or direct.

   let faith be your cynosure to walk by

2. Something that is the center of attention; an object that serves as a focal point of attraction and admiration.
   • 1852, Alice Cary, Clovernook, or Recollections of our Neighborhood in the West

     The rooms were brilliant with lights and flowers, and gaiety and beauty, and intellect; and the lately shrinking country girl was the cynosure of all eyes---the most envied, the most dreaded, the most admired, the most loved.

3. (literally, capitalized) Ursa Minor or Polaris, the North Star, used as a guide by navigators

Translations

that which serves to guide or direct

Finnish: johtotähti (fi) French: tramontane (fr), guide (fr), mentor (fr), chien d'aveugle (fig.) (fr), parangon (fr)

Italian: tramontana (it), guida (it) Russian: путеводная звезда (ru) Spanish: tramontana (es), guia (es), lazarillo (es) m. (figuratively)

something that is the center of attention; an object that serves as a focal point of attraction and admiration

Finnish: huomion keskipiste (fi) French: point de mire (fr), cible (fr), foyer (fr) German: Anziehungspunkt (de) m.

Russian: центр внимания (ru), средоточие внимания (ru) Spanish: blanco de las miradas (es), foco (es)

Ursa Minor — see Ursa Minor

North Star — see North Star

See also

• Cynosure in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.