cynosure

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person or thing that is the center of attention or admiration

   The restored clock became the cynosure of the town square.

2. 2
   noun

   a person or thing that serves as a guide or directs one's course

   For generations, the constitutional ideal remained a cynosure for reformers.

Via French and Latin from Greek Kynosoura, literally 'dog's tail,' the name of Ursa Minor, from kynos, 'dog's,' + oura, 'tail.' Because the constellation contains Polaris, the word came to mean a guiding object; because observers fixed their eyes on it, it also developed the now-common sense 'center of attention.'

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