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Webster 1913 Edition

Cynosure

Cy′no-sure

(s?′n?-sh?r or s?n′?-sh?r; 277)
,
Noun.
[L.
Cynosura
theconstellation Cynosure, Gr. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK] dog’s tail, the constellation Cynosure; [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK], [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK], dog +
οὐρά
tail. See
Cynic
.]
1.
The constellation of the Lesser Bear (Ursa Minor), to which, as containing the polar star, the eyes of mariners and travelers were often directed.
2.
That which serves to direct.
Southey.
3.
Anything to which attention is strongly turned; a center of attraction.
Where perhaps some beauty lies,
The
cynosure
of neighboring eyes.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cynosure

CYNOSURE

,
Noun.
[Gr., the tail of the dog, ursa minor, the little bear.] The constellation near the north pole, consisting of seven stars, four of which are disposed like the four wheels of a chariot, and three lengthwise, like the beam; hence called the chariot or Charless wain. As seamen are accustomed to steer by this constellation, ti si sometimes taken for that which directs or attracts attention.

Definition 2024

cynosure

cynosure

English

Noun

cynosure ‎(plural cynosures)

  1. (usually capitalized) Ursa Minor or Polaris, the North Star, used as a guide by navigators.
  2. (figuratively) That which serves to guide or direct; a guiding star.
    let faith be your cynosure to walk by
  3. 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.
    • 1893, Henry James, The Private Life:
      This was an occasion, if ever, for Lord Mellifont's tact, which descended on us all like balm. He told us, in his charming, artistic way, his way of bridging over arid intervals... of his own collapse on a momentous occasion, the delivery of an address to a mighty multitude, when, finding he had forgotten his memoranda, he fumbled on the terrible platform, the cynosure of every eye, fumbled vainly in irreproachable pockets for indispensable notes.
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 306:
      With anglophobia driving out anglophilia, the king – as during the Seven Years War – came to represent the very cynosure of patriotic zeal.

Translations

See also

Etymology

From 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”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsʌɪnəʊsjə/
    Hyphenation: cy‧no‧sure

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