Meanings
plural phillumenists
- A person who collects match-related items, like matchbox labels, matchboxes, matchbooks, or matchbook covers.
There is a new and happy breed, the Phillumenists, better known as Match-box Label collectors.
1948 May, A. J. Cruse, “I am a Phillumenist: Match-Box Labels as a Hobby”, in Chambers's Journal, page 2382 more examples
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.
1984, Stephen Hughes, Pop Culture Mania: Collecting 20th-Century Americana for Fun and Profit, New York: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, →OL, page 207This 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.
2012 January 23, Jennifer Johnson, “Kit Nelson” (30:10 from the start), in Alcatraz, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Edwin James (Jonny Coyne)
Origin
- Latinlumen“light”
- Englishphillumenist
From phil- (“love of”) + Latin lumen (“light”) + -ist.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch luciferdoosjesverzamelaar, luciferdoosjesverzamelaarster
- luciferdoosjesverzamelaarcollector
- luciferdoosjesverzamelaarstercollector
Finnish fillumenisti
- fillumenisticollector
French philuméniste
- philuménistecollector
German Phillumenist, Phillumenistin
- Phillumenistcollector
- Phillumenistincollector
Russian филумени́ст
- филумени́ст (filumeníst)collector
Swedish filumenist
- filumenistcollector
Ukrainian філуменіст
- філуменіст (filumenist)collector
Cite this entry
phillumenist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phillumenist
“phillumenist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phillumenist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phillumenist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phillumenist.
Source: phillumenist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.