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.
crymophilous (adjective), more crymophilous, most crymophilous
Descriptive of life forms that prefer the cold polar areas: There are many crymophilous species of plants that grow on the tundra of the Arctic, among them are some flowering plants, herbs, grasses, and lichens.
A preference of some organisms to habitat the polar regions: James was especially interested in crymophily and wanted to know all about the plants and animals that thrived in such very cold and freezing areas of the Earth.
In ecology, an organism that grows at low temperatures; psychrophile: Such cryophiles can thrive at extremely cold temperatures varying from -20°C to 20°C (-4°F to 68°F).
The cryophils are found in areas that are continually cold, like the polar regions and in the deep oceans.
A partiality of a life form to grow at low temperatures: The condition of cryophilia exists among such organisms as lichens, snow algae, fungi, bacteria, and some insects, all of which prefer to thrive in cold environments.
cryophilic (adjective) (not comparable)
A reference to a form of life that thrives at low temperatures: For her report in biology, Jane read that some cryophilic organisms that prefer icy habitats include psychrophilic microorganisms and actinobacteria.
cryophilous (adjective), more cryophilous, most cryophilous
Pertaining to an organism that prefers growing at low temperatures: Cryophilous forms of life propagate the best in temperatures ranging from -20°C to 20°C (-4°F to 68°F).
The preference of an organism to thrive in a very cold habitat: Cryophily can be exemplified by minute algae that live best in ice snow or icy water.
cumcyxaphile, cumyxaphilist (s) (noun); cumyxaphiles; cumyxaphilists
A collector of match boxes: Somehow Greg became fascinated by those little cardboard containers holding matches that he became a cyxaphile and had a whole collection of them from all over the world.
Something that has an affinity to blue or green dyes: A double-stranded DNA is considered to be a cyanophile that possesses an attraction or affinity to the Eva Green dye which becomes fluorescent when binding with such a double-stranded DNA.
cyanophilous (adjective) (not comparable)
Regarding something that is attracted to blue or green dyes: A cyanophilous douple-stranded DNA and a single-stranded DNA can both bind with DNA.SYBR Green, a green fluorescent cyanine dye.
A person who is very interested in and collects truncheons: James, a policeman and a cygelophilist, was intrigued by such short thick clubs or cudgels that officers used to carry with them, and he had a whole assortment of these short staffs at his home.
An individual who has a fondness for dogs: Meg felt a special attraction towards "man's best friend" and had a few of them in her home. She was known by her friends to be a cynophile.
cynophiliac (adjective),more cynophiliac, most cynophiliac
Referring to the affection or liking for canines: There was a strong cynophiliac relationship between Mrs. Jackson and her adorable dog, Skip.
A person who accumulates decorative candles: As a dekocerophilist, Mrs. Hathaway just loved candles, especially those with fragrances, and had a wonderful collection of them in her home.
A person who has a fondness for people: Susan was a very gregarious person who just loved being with other people, and, as a demophile, she joined many clubs in her town.
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.
