Link Centre Dictionary

cynosure

cy·no·sure

UK/ˈsɪnəzjʊə/ US/-sjʊə/ uncommon

noun

1.

something that provides guidance (as Polaris guides mariners)

  • “let faith be your cynosure to walk by”
2.

something that strongly attracts attention and admiration

  • “if he was the cynosure of all eyes he didn”

Origin

From Middle French Cynosure (“Ursa Minor; Polaris”), from Latin Cynosūra (“Ursa Minor”), from Ancient Greek Κυνόσουρα (Kunósoura, “Ursa Minor”, literally “dog’s tail”), from κυνός (kunós, “dog's”) + οὐρά (ourá, “tail”).

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.