Are you an ailurophile?

An ailurophile is a cat lover, or someone who loves cats.

Ailurophilia (noun) A fondness or love for cats and other felines. From the ancient Greek word ‘ailouros’ meaning ‘cat’ and ‘philia’, which is ‘love’

Two kittens cat lover
Ailurophile – cat lover. How could anyone not love these two little kittens?

The phrase ‘ailurophile’ was first used in 1931. It comes from the Greek ‘phile,’ meaning ‘one who loves,’ and ‘ailouros’, the Greek word for ‘cat.’ The Greek cat word probably referred to wildcats, because the Greeks apparently didn’t have domesticated cats. Most scholars think the word for cat originated as a compound of the Greek ‘aiolos,’ meaning ‘quick-moving’. Combined with the Greek word for ‘tail’ which is ‘oura’, then ailouros seems to be the perfect definition of a cat – ‘quick moving tail.’

Cat-lovers were previously known as ‘philofelists’, which was a word coined around 1840. Source: Etymonline.com

cat lovers

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