toxophilite

noun

tox·​oph·​i·​lite täk-ˈsä-fə-ˌlīt 

: a person fond of or expert at archery

toxophilite adjective

toxophily

täk-ˈsä-fə-lē 

noun

Did you know?

Toxophilite became established in the language as the name for a late 18th-century English archery society. The word derives from Greek toxon, which referred to both a bow and arrow, and philos, meaning "loving." Today, toxophilite is a rarely used word but often occurs in vocabulary games and puzzles and in spelling bees. A more ubiquitous descendant of toxon is "toxic." Toxic is an anglicization of Latin's word for "poison," toxicum, which originally meant "poison for arrows" and is a borrowing from Greek toxikon, meaning "arrow."

Word History

Etymology

Greek toxon bow, arrow + philos dear, loving

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined above

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