philo-, phil-, -phile, -philia, -philic, -philous, -phily, -philiac, -philist, -philism
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.
eremophily
(s) (noun) (no pl)
The ability of some life forms to flourish in a very dry area: In his biology book, Joe read about eremophily which referred to plants being able to survive in desert environments by storing fresh water internally.
ergophile
(s) (noun), ergophiles
(pl)
Someone who is fond of and devoted to working: Mr. Busy is an
ergophile who is known to love his job so much that he even takes some work from his office to do at home.
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ergophilia
(s) (noun) (no pl)
The pleasure of doing exercises or of working: Ergophilia described exactly what Janet felt every morning when she woke up because she always looked forward to her job and going to the fitness studio afterwards.
ergophilous
(noun), more ergophilous, most ergophilous
A special love or desire for working: In the summer, Susan was always in an ergophilous mood to go out into her garden and tend to all the necessary jobs to make her garden a wonderful place to be.
ergophily
(s) (noun) (no pl)
A joy or and satisfaction in working: Ergophily certainly described Mr. Active's love for teaching and he enjoyed being around children so much that he stayed longer in school to talk with the students and other teachers.
errinophilist, errinophile
(s) (noun); errinophilists; errinophiles
(pl)
A collector o stamps other than those used for postage: Mr. Green was an errinophilist and saved Christmas seals, tax stamps, etc. from all over the world.
eruciphile
(s) (noun), eruciphiles
(pl)
One who is very interested in caterpillars: As an eruciphile, Mrs. Black was totally fascinated by caterpillars, like the oleander caterpillar, the black swallowtail caterpillar, and the monarch caterillar.
eruciphilous
(adjective), more eruciphilous, most eruciphilous
Pertaining to a special fondness for caterpillars: Grace had an eruciphilous activity because she went out to the garden every morning to see if she could detect yet another kind of caterpillar climbing up the stems of her plants.
eruciphily
(s) (noun) (no po)
A strong delight in caterpillars: The articles Tony found describing eruciphily certainly were so informative that he decided to find out more about the many varieties of caterpillars.
Relating to something that is easily stained with red: In histology, erythrophilous cells turn red, especially lysosomes, or organelles.
etsenephilist, etsenephile
(s) (noun), etsenephilists; etsenephiles
(pl)
A collector of etchings: Ever since he was a boy, Mr. Rogers was an etsenephilist who was very interested in metal plates with impressed designs and pictures, and he even made such prints himself.
euhydrophile
(s) (noun), euhydrophiles
(pl)
A plant that grows in fresh water: One example of an euhydrophile is one of many types of pondweeds that grow in ponds with aquatic environments.
euhydrophilous
(noun) (not comparable)
Regarding a plant that thrives submerged in fresh water: The Canada waterweed, the broad-leaf pondweeds, and the Coontail are all euhydrophilous because their stems and leaves grow completely underwater.
euhydrophily
(s) (noun) (no pl)
The existence of a form of life that thrives submerged in fresh water:
Euhydrophily can be exemplified by the growth of the water lily in a pond or small lake.
The condition of euhydrophily can also include plants whose flowers and seeds on short stems are above the surface of the water.
euphile
(s) (noun), euphiles
(pl)
A particular plant or flower that attracts certain pollinators: Euphiles can be exemplified by red flowers which hummingbirds absolutely love.
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.
