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.

autophilia (s) (noun) (no pl)
The love of one's self; self-love: Jenny read in her book that autophilia concerns one's own happiness and is considered to be a basic human necessity, but at the same time a moral weakness.

Narcissism is a psychoanalytic term meaning self-love, which also applies to autophilia..

autophilic (adjective), more autophilic, most autophilic
Referring to the love of one's self: One of June's colleagues at work was certainly a ver egisitic and autophilic person and totally unsociable, thinking only of herself and her own advantages in her career.
autophilous (adjective) (not comparable)
In biology, an unusual term for self-pollinating: Beans, broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers, among others, are autophilous.

Some fruit trees are also autophilous, like the apple trees, peach trees, and cherry trees.

autophily (s) (noun) (no pl)
The affection or fondness for one's self: Some people are so concerned with their narcissistic way of life that psychiatry terms this as autophily, or a type of weak point or fault in their character.
bandophile, bandophilist (s) (noun); bandophiles; bandophilists (pl)
A collector of head scarves: Judy was so intrigues by all the different types and colors of kerchiefs that were worn on the head and tied under the chin, that she started buying and saving all the ones she found, and she turned into a read bandophilist!
bandtourophile, bandtourophilist (s) (noun); bandtourophiles; bandtourophilists (pl)
A collector of tunbridge ware: Sam's mother, a bandtourophilist, was very fond of such inlaid woodwork, including trays, boxes and other ornamental items, which were made in the 17th and 18th centuries in Tunbridge Wells, England.
baptisaphily (s) (noun) (no pl)
A special interest in collecting Christian baptismal names: Baptisaphily was known to be a favorite hobby of one of the faithful members of the local church in the small town.
baptistaphile, baptistaphilist (s) (noun); baptistaphiles; baptistaphilists (pl)
A collector of Christian names: The elderly Mrs. Smith, a baptistaphilist, kept a great record of all the names given at the time of baptism at the local church she always attended.
barbephile, barbephilist (s) (noun); barbephiles; barbephilists (pl)
A collector of wire with very sharp and pointed hooks: Sam's father, a barbephile, had a great supply of very strong wire with pointed fasteners or clasps positioned at regular intervals in order to keep his cattle from wandering outside the pasture.
barophile (s) (noun), barophiles (pl)
An organism that grows under conditions of high atmospheric pressure: One example of an obligate barophile is the Halomonas salary which is a gram-negative proteobacteria and requires a pressure of 1000 atm.
barophilic (adjective), more barophilic, most barophilic
1. In microbiology, relating to or describing a microorganism that grows optimally at high atmospheric pressure: Some deep-sea bacteria are barophilic in that they thrive especially well in the very low layers of the ocean.
2. Regarding a living form that thrives under conditions of high hydrostatic pressure: Some barophilic organisms grow in an ocean depth of 1000 fathoms where there is little or no light.
barophily (s) (noun) (no pl)
In biology, the condition of thriving under high hydrostatic or atmospheric pressure: When studying microbiology at college, Sally was amazed that barophily was possible with certain bacteria growing at great depths in the ocean.
bathophile (s) (noun), batholphiles (pl)
An organism that thrives in deep water: A fish that habitats the very abysmal regions of the sea can be termed to be a bathophile.
bathophilous (adjective) (not comparable)
Concerning a living form of life that inhabits very low depths of water: In California, a rare bathophilous dragonfish was recently discovered at 1000 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean.
bathophily (s) (noun) (no pl)
The existence of life on the sea floor: The state of bathophily describes life that is present between 200 meters and 4,000 meters below sea level.
Quiz button #1 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.