Cynosura

Forms

Cynosūra f sg (genitive Cynosūrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κυνόσουρα (kunósoura, “dog's tail”),^[2][3][1] from κύων (kúōn, “dog”) and οὐρά (ourá, “tail”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in his translation of Aratus: ex his altera apud Graios Cynosura vocatur, altera dicitur esse Helice, “of these, one is called Cynosura among the Greeks, the other is said to be Helice”.^[6] It is the constellation of the Lesser Bear.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The constellation was the sailor's guide: Ovid contrasts the Phoenicians, who steer by Cynosura, with the Greek ships, which watch Helice,^[2] and Lucan says no star led ships more surely.^[6] Cicero used it in a figure, saying that he steers his thoughts not by the little Cynosura but by Helice.^[2] Hyginus makes Cynosura a nurse of Jupiter, set among the stars,^[2][6] and Statius uses it for a place in Arcadia.^[3][7][6] The adjective is Cynosūris.^[3]

Medieval writers kept it for the Lesser Bear or the pole star.^[8][9] From it French and English took cynosure, “something that draws attention”.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in his Aratus translation.^[6][4]
• 43 BC–AD 18 – Ovid makes it the Phoenician sailors' guide.^[2][4]
• 1st century – Manilius uses it in his astronomical poem.^[2][4]
• c. 45–96 – Statius uses it for a place in Arcadia.^[3][4]
• 1590s – English borrows cynosure from French.^[5]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. The constellation Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear.^[2][3]
2. (mythology) A nymph, the nurse of Jupiter.^[2][6]
3. A town or mountain in Arcadia.^[3][6]
4. (Medieval Latin) The pole star.^[9]

Word family

• Cynosūris

Related words

• English cynosure

Usage notes

Pliny the Elder calls addled eggs cynosura ova, from the Greek, whose Latin name was urina ova.^[3][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press