phillumenist

See also: Phillumenist

English

WOTD – 7 March 2012

Etymology

From phil- (love of) + Latin lumen (light) + -ist.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fɪˈluːmənɪst/

Noun

phillumenist (plural phillumenists)

  1. A person who collects match-related items, like matchbox labels, matchboxes, matchbooks, or matchbook covers.
    • 1948 May, Cruse, A. J., “I am a Phillumenist: Match-Box Labels as a Hobby”, in Chambers's Journal, page 238:
      There is a new and happy breed, the Phillumenists, better known as Match-box Label collectors.
    • 1984, Hughes, Stephen, Pop Culture Mania: Collecting 20th-Century Americana for Fun and Profit, New York: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, OL 9249899M, page 207:
      To be a real phillumenist, however, requires that one take his assorted books and "shuck" them, "press" them, and then categorize them according to subject, era, size, and maker.
    • 2012 January 23, Jonny Coyne as Edwin James, “Kit Nelson”, in Alcatraz, season 1, episode 3, written by Jennifer Johnson, 30:10 from the start:
      This matchbox is a Swedish safety match from the Jönköping match factory. It's manufactured in 1858, just in time for the American Civil War. I like it very much. I guess that makes me something of a phillumenist.

Translations

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