cynic

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A person who believes people are selfish and expects the worst of them.

   Years in politics had turned her into a complete cynic.

2. 2
   noun

   In ancient Greece, a member of a school of philosophers who valued virtue and self-control above all else.

   The ancient Cynics rejected wealth and comfort in favour of a simple life.

Simplified etymology

Cynic comes from Greek kunikos and originally referred to a member of the ancient Greek philosophical school that rejected wealth, luxury, and pleasure in pursuit of self-knowledge. The name probably derives from Kunosarges, the school where the philosopher Antisthenes taught. This is considered more likely than the traditional derivation from Greek kuōn “dog,” interpreted as “doglike” or “churlish.”

From Middle English cynike, cynicke, from Middle French cynique, from Latin cynicus, from Ancient Greek κυνικός (kunikós), originally derived from the portico in Athens called Κυνόσαργες (Kunósarges), the earliest home of the Cynic school, later reinterpreted as being derived from κύων (kúōn, “dog”), in a contemptuous allusion to the uncouth and aggressive manners adopted by the members of the school.

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