arctophile

Pronounced: ARK-tuh-file, noun

Notes: I thought that maybe this was someone who liked the cold (but no)

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Yesterday’s word

The word bouquiniste is “a dealer in secondhand books”

First usage

The word came into English in the mid-1800s

Background / Comments

This word is French, and was created in French in the mid-1700s to describe booksellers alone the river Seine. There was already a French word bouquin (used book) – from the Dutch boeckin (little book) – that described booksellers on the Pont Neuf bridge. They were banned from doing business on the bridge and set up their shops along the river. After this move, they were called bouquinistes. The word made its way into English, and I now have a fancy word for a used book store!