cynosure

やはりサントリーが勝ちましたね。しかし、神戸製鋼があれだけ攻めていたのにトライができず見ていてイライラしました。サントリーはディフェンスもしっかりしていた証です。
さて、内村鑑三のRepresentative Men of Japanから取り上げる最後の単語です。内村鑑三の英文には難しい単語が沢山使われています。今日取り上げる単語もその一つです。
When the temple was all filled, and "incense perfumed its four corners," Nichiran appeared on the pulpit "at the beating of a drum." A man just reaching fulness of manhood, with many marks of vigils upon him, the eyes of a zealot, the dignity of a prophet, --he was the cynosure of the whole congregation, and his opening words were watched with breathless silence.
日蓮は仏僧なので上に出てきた "cynosure" は以前取り上げた"tonsure" を想い起こさせますが、その意味ではないのは明白です。　辞書を引きます。
・Collins Dictionary: 1. a person or thing that attracts notice, esp because of its brilliance or beauty 2. something that serves as a guide: Chendru returned and for some time was the cynosure of all eyes.
・Vocabulary.com:
A figure skater on the ice is the cynosure, or focal point, of a stadium as she triple-axles through the air. All eyes are on her with admiration, though you can't be so sure she'll land it.
Cynosure, pronounced sy-na-shoor, comes from the Latin word for Ursa Minor and referred originally to the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the North Star. While other stars travel throughout the night sky, the North Star is a fixed point, and has been used by sailors to orient them for centuries. Like a bride who attracts the attention and admiration of everyone at a wedding as she comes down the aisle, the North Star is the cynosure for travelers lost in the forest without a map. All eyes are on it.
元々北極星の意味があるのですか。なるほど。今冬の "cynosure" と言えばなんと言ってもスキージャンプの高梨沙羅選手ですね。今朝のニュースでも団体での優勝を伝えていました。凄いとしか言いようが無い。