cynophilist (sī-näfələ̇st)

Happy Valentine’s Day! We have a new love in our lives and I have been very excited to write this post for many months. In September of 2016, we brought home a 12-week-old Tibetan Spaniel puppy. We named her Coco Cuddles, and she is adorable, sweet, and cuddly.

Tibetan Spaniels are a rather uncommon breed, but we have found that this particular breed suits our family perfectly. Coco is loving, lively, alert, smart, playful, and sometimes mischievous. As their name would suggest, Tibetan Spaniels originated in Tibet. They are a very old breed; they are depicted in Asian art dating back to 1100 BC.

Tibetan Spaniels can be many different colors with various markings, but our Coco is  parti colored, meaning that she is a mix of different colors – she is white with light sable markings. She is almost 8 months old now and weighs 8 pounds. Her adult weight will be between 13 and 15 pounds, so she won’t really gain much more weight.

By now, you’ve probably guessed that the word cynophilist has something to do with dogs! Cynophilist comes from the Greek roots cyn-, meaning dog, and phil-, meaning love so the word means “dog lover.”

Are any of you cynophilists?

To see more pictures of baby Coco, go to Briallu Tibetan Spaniels – Coco’s litter name was Penelope.

bibliophile (bi-blē-ə-ˌfī-əl)

Books are my great love!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today is all about love, so I have decided to write about one of my great loves – books. I am a bibliophile.

A bibliophile is a  lover of books. Bibliophile contains the Greek roots bibli- meaning book andphil meaning love of. The root phil- can occur at the beginning of words such as philanthropy or at the end of words like bibliophile.

I enjoy reading many different genres of books but my favorite books are those in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I have read these books countless times and I am captivated by the author’s use of Latin throughout the series. As a student of Latin, I find that the books are much more interesting because of the clever utilization of Latin.  I also love that the author makes many references to Greek mythology! During the next few weeks I would like to explore the Latin that occurs in the Harry Potter series as well as references to Greek mythology.  If you have never read Harry Potter, I strongly recommend reading these amazing books! If you are a Harry Potter fan, I hope you enjoy my series of posts on this topic.

 

philanthropy (fə̇ˈlan(t)thrəpē)

Students at my school participate in Penny Wars to raise money for charity.

This season is all about giving back to those in need. Every year, students at my school participate in an event called Penny Wars. During the Penny Wars, teachers and students are divided into three teams according to their birthdays. We drop pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters in jars to raise money for charity. At the end of the event, the team with the most money has the privilege of deciding where to donate all of the money. Last year’s winning team donated the money to Heifer International.

Merriam Webster defines the word philanthropy as Goodwill toward one’s fellowmen especially as expressed through active efforts to promote human welfarePhilanthropy contains the Greek roots phil- meaning love of and anthrop- meaning man. The word philanthropy literally means “love of man.” 

toxophilite (täk säfə līt)

I love the cool new bow I got for my birthday!

Yesterday was my first official day of summer vacation! I went to the archery range with my dad and we shot arrows together; it was fun! I am a true toxophilite. What is a toxophilite, you ask? A toxophilite is a lover of archery. Toxophilite is made up of two Greek roots, tox, meaning bow and phil, meaning love of. Two Greek elements usually link with “o.” Are you a toxophilite? If you are, let me know.