philo-, phil-, -phile, -philia, -philic, -philous, -phily, -philiac, -philist, -philism
(Greek: love, loving, friendly to, fondness for, attraction to; strong tendency toward, affinity for)
These are just a few of the meanings set up for the etymological meanings of philo- which comes to us from Greek.
In biology, there are many words that use philo-, phil- to mean "thriving in such and such a place or situation; or exhibiting a tendency for a specified condition" for its existence.
Other meanings include: "strongly attracted to; such as, an organism that loves or is strongly attracted to something which is specified".
In psychology and psychiatry, -phile, -philia, etc. use this element as a word termination indicating an abnormal craving or attraction to or an affinity for an object as shown by the word stems to which they are affixed.
demophilous (adjective), more demophilous, most demophilous
Pertaining to the partiality or appreciation of people: Mary was one of the most demophilous persons Greg knew who always loved to be around people and who enjoyed their company.
A person who lives in trees or orchards: As a dendrophile, Jane had a real soft spot in her heart for trees, so she decided to spend much of her time with the trees behind her house, and she even made a tree house to sleep in during the night.
The love of trees: In dendrophilia, there are some plants that have a partiality to grow near or even on trees.
dendrophilous (adjective), more dendrophilous, most dendrophilous
Regarding the preference for, or partiality for trees: Some orchids are dendrophilous and attach themselves to trees in order to grow.
A collector of fur items: Grace was a dereinoperphile who had a real fondness for things made of fur, and she had a nice accumulation of fur collars, fur coats, and purses with fir trimming.
dientomophilous (adjective), more dientomophilous, most dientomophilous
In biology, a reference to a plant that is pollinated by two different insect species: Dientomophilous plants have two kinds of flowers, and each one is adapted for one of the two insect pollinators.
The possibility of a plant to accommodate pollination by different species of insects: It seemed amazing when Tony read about dientomophily describing that a certain type of plant could produce two kinds of flowers depending on which kind of insect specie pollinated it.
A person who is very fond of thimbles: Judy loved to sew and always had to have a new thimble to add to her collection, so she was known in her sewing group as a digitectophile.
An individual who is exceptionally fond of bric-a-brac miniatures: The elderly Mrs. Smith, a diminutophilist, loved her little ornamental items and figures she had collected over the years, and she didn't mind them having very little value at all.
A collector of or specialist in phonograph records: As a discophile, old Mr. Thompson had a great number of old records and played them quite often. He also started to buy CDs to add on to the variety of music of composers he had accumulated.
Someone who adores straw works or has a fondness for objects made of straw: Samantha was known to be a dolliophilist among her friends because she certainly had a great number of things all made of straw and they were all on shelves in her living room!
A form of life that grows well in salty regions: Some drimyphile that prefer thriving in salty areas can be Adam's needle, Bougainvillea, and Davlily.
drimyphilous (adjective), more drimyphilous; most drimyphilous
In biology, pertaining to a life form that thriving in salty areas: Some drimyphilous plants, or also called
halophytes, that prosper well in salty environments are mangroves, quinoa, and Arabidopsis thaliana.
The condition of a life form thriving in a salty environment: After reading about the situation of drimyphily in his textbook, Jim was surprised that not only bacteria, but also different kinds of plants were able to grow in a salty habitats.
A plant that is pollinated by dew: In her class at school, Mr. Timmons asked the students to find out more about drosophiles, or those plants that can be fertilized by dew.
You may take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section by just clicking this Philo Quiz #1 link.
Related "love, fondness" units: agape-; amat-; vener-; venus.