Saying “Ailurophile” (and origin)

This exceedingly brief video shows you how to say ailurophile. I can say it now but I still have difficulties spelling it. It is meant be a bit of fun. I first encountered a very similar word when I wrote a page about the fear of cats. The word for that condition is “ailurophobia“. A person who is frightened of cats is an ailurophobe. In fact, the full definition of ailurophobe is a person who fears or hates cats. Perhaps a fear of something automatically results in a hatred of it. The adjective is ailurophobic  – “Woody is ailurophobic” 😉 and the noun is ailurophilia – “When she was ten she developed ailurophilia“.

I could have created an audio file and embedded that in the page but I found it too technical. Adding sound to a video and using the video as a vehicle for the sound it easier. A video also gave me the chance to show off one of the world’s best know ailurophiles. A word of warning: don’t try and type the word, just copy and paste it! It is so much easier and safer that way.

What is the origin of the word?

The first bit of the word comes from Greek: ailouros meaning “cat”. I am told that the first known use of the word was in 1914. So, this appears to be a fairly recently created word.

The second half of the word is “phile”. This comes from the Latin word philus and the Greek word philos meaning “dear” or “beloved”.

Writing this page was a chance to educate myself. The question is do I change the header to the site to something like: Ailurophiles in Action! I don’t think so but it is fun to think of uses for the word.

The featured ailurophile in the video is, you have probably guessed, Kattaddorra (Ruth).