Greek root used in English
The Greek root -phil- originates from the Greek word meaning "love". For example, philosophy (along with the Greek root -soph- meaning "wisdom") is the study of human customs and the significance of life. One of the most common uses of the root -phil- is with philias.
A philia is the love or obsession with a particular thing or subject. The suffix -philia is used to specify the love or obsession with something more specific. It is somewhat antonymic to -phobia. Philias can be biological (e.g. rhizophilia, preference for living on roots) or chemical (e.g. chromophilous, materials that stain easily), or can be a hobby/liking (e.g. icthyophilia, love for fish).
Philia (φιλία) as a Greek word for love refers to brotherly love, including friendship and affection. This contrasts to the Greek terms Eros, or sexual/romantic love, and agape, or detached, spiritual love. However, English usage differs in some cases from the etymological use, and several of these words refer in English not to brotherly love but to sexual attraction.
The suffix -phile (or, in a few cases, -philiac) applies to someone who has one of these philia. It is the antonym of -phobe.
Phil- (philo-) may also be used as a prefix with a similar meaning.
Words that use -phil-
Biology
- Acidophilia: preference of acidic conditions
- Alkaliphilia: preference of alkaline environments
- Anthophilia: attraction to flowers
- Anthropophile: attracted to humans (e.g., parasites)
- Anemophily: a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind
- Capnophile: microorganism that thrives in the presence of high concentrations of carbon dioxide
- Cryophilia: preference for cold environments, climates, objects and low temperatures; e.g., Protea cryophila (Snow Protea)
- Dacryphilia: attraction to tears
- Dendrophilia: preference of trees or other plants
- Entomophilous: adapted for pollination by insects
- Extremophilia: preference of living extremal conditions for some microorganisms
- Geophilia: preferring to organisms that prefer the soil
- Halophilia: attraction to salt or salt-water
- Heliophilia: attraction to sunlight
- Hydrophilia: attraction to water
- Hyperthermophilia: organisms that thrive in extremely hot environments
- Limnophilia: preference of ponds or marshes
- Lithophilia: preference or affinity to stones
- Mesophilia: preference of moderate temperatures in microorganisms
- Microaerophilia: organisms that can tolerate or require environments containing low levels of oxygen
- Myrmecophilia: love for the ants
- Nemophilia: love of the woods and forests
- Necrophilia: an attraction to the dead
- Neutrophile: organism that thrives in a neutral pH environment
- Nyctophilia: an attraction to darkness or night; finding relaxation or comfort in the darkness. Preferring nighttime activities to daytime activities
- Ombrophilia: affinity to large amounts of rainfall
- Pedophilia: Persistent sexual attraction to prepubescent children.
- Petrophilia: preference of living or spending time in rocky areas
- Photophilia: preference of living or spending time in lighted conditions
- Pluviophilia: affinity to rain
- Psammophile: a plant loving sandy areas
- Psychrophilia: preference of cold temperatures
- Rheophilia: preference of living in running water
- Sciaphilia: preference of living in shady or dark areas (as opposed to photophilia)
- Thermophilia: love of high temperatures; thriving in high temperatures (e.g. microbes)
- Tropophilia: preference of seasonal extremes of climate
- Trichophilia: an attraction to hair or fur
- Vorarephilia: sexual attraction to being eaten by or eating, typically by living organisms.
- Xenophilia: an affection for unknown, foreign objects, or people
- Xerophilia: love of living or spending time in very dry conditions
- Xylophilia: love of wood
- Zoophily: a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by animals
Chemistry and physics
- Electrophile: a chemical species that forms bonds with nucleophiles by accepting a pair of electrons
- Hydrophilic: (of a substance) having a tendency to interact with or be dissolved by water and other polar substances
- Lipophilic: solubility or solvability of a substance with lipids
- Lipophilic: (of a substance) in microfluidics, enriching on channel walls instead of in the middle of the channels (e.g. air bubbles)
- Nucleophile: a chemical species that donates an electron pair to form a chemical bond. Antonym: electrophile
Hobbies
- Audiophilia: love of high-fidelity sound reproduction
- Arctophilia: love of teddy bears; especially, an interest in collecting teddy bears
- Bibliophilia: love of books
- Cartophilia: love of maps
- Cinephilia: love of cinema and film
- Philately: the study of stamps and postal history and other related items
- Glossophilia: love of languages (synonym for philology)
- Logophilia: love of words — logophiles may be interested in word games, such as crosswords, or Scrabble, and in the extreme, derive enjoyment from reading things commonly given less notice, such as labels
- Metrophilia: love of the metro rail or subway systems
- Neophilia: love of the latest novelties and trends
- Oenophilia: love of wine
- Ornithophilia: love of birds
- Taphophilia: love of graves, cemeteries and funerals
- Technophilia: love of technology
- Videophile: person who is concerned with achieving high-quality results in the recording and playback of movies, TV programs, etc
National or ethnic
Sexual paraphilias
- List of paraphilias
- Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. Such attraction may be labeled sexual fetishism
Other
Words that start with phil-
See also
