Pronounced: man-yuh-MIT, verb
Notes: I didn’t know that there was a word for this
Yesterday’s word
The word ailurophile means “a cat fancier; a lover of cats”
First usage
Our word came into English in the 1920s
Background / Comments
This is one of those words that I keep running across in books, look it up, and remember that I have seen it before. But then I forget the meaning again shortly. I am familiar with the -phile suffix (lover), but the first part of the verb doesn’t remind me of cats; it looks like it should have something to do with ears. Our word came from the aforementioned Greek suffix -phile appended to the Greek word ailouros (cat). Maybe this time I’ll remember the definition?
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 