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.
A living thing that thrives in the depths of the ocean: Bathyphiles are organisms that do well in the deep parts of the ocean which has a temperature of about 1 - 3°C.
bathyphilous (adjective) (not comparable)
Descriptive of an organism that dwells in the depths of the ocean: Jim's biology professor told his students that there were quite a number of fish, krills, jellyfish, and squids that were bathyphilous and thrived in the mesopelagic zone, or very deep part of of the sea.
A collector of brothel tickets: Jim's uncle was known to be a bawsymbephilist who had a very strange hobby of accumulating brother tickets.
A collector of small swords: Jeff had a strange hobby of gathering together as many different kinds of little sabres, rapiers, and other bladded weapons and even joined a club with other beaupoignophiles.
1. A lover of books; a book fancier: Ted's elderly aunt introduced him to the joys of being a bibliophile by giving him a job in a library.
2. Someone who loves books, especially a collector interested in beautiful or rare bindings, formats, etc.: When Mary, a well-known bibliophile died, she gave her entire library of rare publications to the local university.
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2. Someone who loves books, especially a collector interested in beautiful or rare bindings, formats, etc.: When Mary, a well-known bibliophile died, she gave her entire library of rare publications to the local university.
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bibliophilic (adjective) (not comparable)
Pertaining to the love of books: Jack had quite a pleasure in reading books and acquired a large collection, so he had to have more bookshelves in his librafy for his bibliophilic hobby.
Someone who loves books or who has a very great fondness for reading and collecting them: Virginia's parents could be considered to have been bibliophilists and had to provide more bookshelves for the ones they liked, even for old dictionaries in antique stores!
bibliophilistic (adjective), more bibliophilistic, most bibliophilistic
Relating to a person who loves books: Mary's neighbor was thought to be bibliophilistic because she had a very large library with hundreds of very interesting books, and some of them were extremely old!
A love of books or a strong desire for books; bibliophilia: Jane was seemingly devoted to bibliophilia, and sipped a glass of fine wine while reading, and went to concerts with classical music.
1. Someone who has a desire or instinct for self-preservation: A biophile possesses a strong interest in the living world.
2. In biochemistry, any element occurring in living organisms or organic matter: Such biophiles, like carbon, oxygen, or nitrogen are found in living forms of life.
2. In biochemistry, any element occurring in living organisms or organic matter: Such biophiles, like carbon, oxygen, or nitrogen are found in living forms of life.
1. An natural bond or association between mankind and all living things: Biophilia is considered by some to be the connections humans subconsciously seek with the rest of life.
2. A conviction that there is an emotional connection between humans and other forms of life: Biophilia can include the respect for oneself and the fair and loving treatment of animals.
2. A conviction that there is an emotional connection between humans and other forms of life: Biophilia can include the respect for oneself and the fair and loving treatment of animals.
This word could also apply to the term, "zoophilia", et al.
biophilous (adjective), mosre biophilous, most biophilous
1. In biology, regarding the existence on on other living organisms: Biophilous forms of life are usually restricted to plant parasites and fungi.
2. In biochemistry, of or designating any chemical element that grows best, or can only exist, in living organisms or in organic matter: Such biophilous components can be carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
2. In biochemistry, of or designating any chemical element that grows best, or can only exist, in living organisms or in organic matter: Such biophilous components can be carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
A collector of silk: Linda, a bombcynophile, loved the feel of the very soft fabric made from the fine threads of the silkworm cocoons and she bought all kinds of clothing made of such material.
An individual who is especially interested in plants: Mrs. Thompson turned out to be a botanophile , or an amateur botanist, because she loved gardening and knew the name of all of her plants.
botanophilous (adjective), more botanophilous, most botanophilous
Referring to the fondness of plants: Sally certainly had a botanophilous interest in all kinds of flowering plants and had quite a colourful garden when they were all in bloom!
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.
