THE FIRST WORD

plutolatry

PRONUNCIATION:

(ploo-TOL-uh-tree) 

MEANING:

noun: Excessive devotion to wealth.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek pluto- (wealth) + -latry (worship). Earliest documented use: 1891. Pluto was the god of riches in Greek mythology.

USAGE:

"He said this reflected the 'appearance of unbridled avarice -- the flowering of plutolatry'."
John F. Copper & Ta-ling Lee; Coping With a Bad Global Image; University Press of America; 1997.