Cynosure
Meaning: The center of attention, the star attraction, the magnetic draw
Origins And History: An ancient Greek astronomical reference to the Pole Star, the star that marks the north in the night sky and that in former centuries was accordingly a primary directional indicator to sailors. From a modern viewpoint, that star – Polaris – is the final star in the constellation Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear, but to the Greeks the whole constellation formed one end of their much bigger version of what the Romans slightly later called Canis Major, the Great Dog. This essential guiding light for navigators was thus the very tip of the tail of the Dog: kunos oura, “Dog’s tail” – the cynosure
*From the book Dog the Wag by Mike Darton
