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.
coleopterophilous
(adjective), more coleopterophilous, most coleopterophilous
In biology, referring to a fondness for beetles: In his biology class, Chuck learned a lot about many of the species of insects in the order of Coleoptera, and suddenly he knew that he had a special coleopterophilous interest in them and searched the internet for more information for his report in class.
colombophile
(s) (noun), colombophiles
(pl)
A person who likes pigeons: a pigeon-fancier: Being a colombophile, Grace's uncle had a whole area of his attic set aside for the birds of the family Columbidae, and he enjoyed watching them all fly and listening to them coo!
conchadophile,conchadophilist
(s) (noun); conchadophiles; conchadophilists
(pl)
A collector of shellcrafts (objects made from sea shells): Stella's mother had a very unique hobby of collecting beautiful items made of seashells, like mirrors, shell jewellery, and figurines, and, as a conchadophilist, she had a huge accumulation of gorgeous objects in her home.
congophile
(s) (noun), congophiles
(pl)
Something that has an affinity to Congo red dye: The amyloid deposits can be considered to be
congophiles within the senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease.
Congo Red,an acid dye, adheres to amyloid proteins which are thought to be congophiles.
congophily
(s) (noun) (no pl)
The attraction towards Congo red dye: Congophily describes the attraction of amyloid deposits inside the senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease having an affinity to Congo red dye.
coniophile
(s) (noun), coniophiles
(pl)
A kind of fungus that thrives with dust or earth powder: Lichens, or plants, that are coniophiles live on tree trunks, rocks, or on bare ground, survive by being covered with a coat of dust.
coniophilous
(adjective), more coniophilous, most coniophilous
Descriptive of a spore-producing eukaryotic organism from the kingdom Fungi: The
coniophilous life forms lack chlorophyll and vascular tissues.
Coniophilous forms of life in the kingdom Fungi include yeasts, smuts, rusts, and mushrooms.
coniophily
(s) (noun), coniophily
(no pl)
The preference of fungus to thrive with dust or earth powder: Coniophily describes how lichens, or plants, live on tree trunks, rocks, or on bare ground, to survive by having a layer of dirt spread oven them.
consecraphile, consecraphilist
(s) (noun); consecraphiles; consecraphilists
(pl)
Someone who has a special desire to collect religious objects: Elizabeth's elderly friend was a devoted consecraphile who had boxes of religious objects that she had collected from many different religions around the world.
convinozephile, convinozephilist
(s) (noun); convinozephiles; convinozephilists
(pl)
An individual who accumulates puzzle jugs: The strangest hobby that June had ever heard of was of her friend's father, a convinozephilist, who collected jugs with puzzle features and which were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
copoclephile, copoclephilist
(s) (noun); copoclephiles; copoclephilists
(pl)
1. A collector of publicity key rings: As a copoclephile, Mary thought that the small metal rings for holding keys were very handy to have, and she especially liked the ones with small advertising decorations hanging on little chains.
2. Etymology: Greek kope, "handle" + kleis, "key" + -phile, "fondness for".
coprophile
(s) (noun), coprophiles
(pl)
A life form that thrives on faces: A coprophile is normally a fungus or a microorganism that grows in or lives off dung or another type of fecal substance.
Referring to a form of life that lives in excrement: Coprophilous bacteria thrive on or grow on dung or fecal matter.
coprophily
(s) (noun) (no pl)
An organism's attraction to filth or feces: Coprophily refers to the preference of some bacteria that inhabit dung and feed on and ingest the fecal matter.
coryphile
(s) (noun), coryphiles
(pl)
A form of life that inhabits alpine meadows: Some coryphiles include cushion plants, lichens, perennial grasses, and mosses all of which are adapted to the harsh conditions of the alpine regions.
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.
