phillumenist

See also: Phillumenist

English

WOTD – 7 March 2012

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɪˈluːmənɪst/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

phillumenist (plural phillumenists)

1. A person who collects match-related items, like matchbox labels, matchboxes, matchbooks, or matchbook covers.
   • 1948 May, A. J. Cruse, “I am a Phillumenist: Match-Box Labels as a Hobby”, in Chambers's Journal‎^[1], page 238:

     There is a new and happy breed, the Phillumenists, better known as Match-box Label collectors.

   • 1984, Stephen Hughes, Pop Culture Mania: Collecting 20th-Century Americana for Fun and Profit‎^[2], New York: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, →OL, 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, Jennifer Johnson, “Kit Nelson” (30:10 from the start), in Alcatraz, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Edwin James (Jonny Coyne):

     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.

Related terms

• phillumeny

Translations

collector

• Dutch: luciferdoosjesverzamelaar m, luciferdoosjesverzamelaarster f
• Finnish: fillumenisti
• French: philuméniste (fr)
• German: Phillumenist (de) m, Phillumenistin (de) f
• Russian: филумени́ст (ru) (filumeníst)
• Swedish: filumenist c
• Ukrainian: філуменіст m (filumenist)