A follower of the philosopher Diogenes was called this, from the Greek for "doglike"
... mid-
16c., in reference to the ancient philosophy, from Greek kynikos "a follower of... [DOC] [TLE] Transcript: The Classics Unleashed [PAR] The book is about Diogenes the cynic philosopher cast literally as a dog to create 
... in Greek means doglike and so Diogenes was called doglike because of his... [DOC] [TLE] The Story of the Greeks | Page 105 - Greek Mythology [PAR] ... class of philosophers who were called "cynics," which means "doglike," 
because, ...