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 special fondness or love for old people: Gerontophilia could describe Judy's delight in working with the elderly in her town.
gerontophilic (adjective), more gerontophilic, most gerontophilic
Pertaining to a fondness for the elderly: Ted had a gerontophilic affection for older people and decided to do some internship in a home for the older generation in his hometown..
The condition of a special attraction towards older people: In psychiatry, gerontophilism is a form of sexual attraction towards senior citizens and is expressed as chronophilic or age disparity.
The situation of being attracted to older people: In her class in psychology, Alice read about gerontophily as being a form of intimate interest towards elderly people.
A form of paraphilia in which a person is sexually interested or attracted to individuals of a specific age group: The expression gerophilia was used by the psychologist John Moneyis to characterize those people who feel sexually fascinated towards others of a certain age group.
A collector of barbed wire: Jack had a farm and needed a lot of strong wire with barbs in order to prevent his cattle from escaping, and so he had quite an assemblage of such wire. His neighbours termed him as being a gliddenophilist because he really had mountains of it!
One who is very fond of souvenir China: Whenever Susan, a gossophilist, went on vacation, she always went to souvenir shops to see what nice porcelain tableware she could find to add to her collection of such items.
An enthusiast for the gramophone and gramophone records: since Bob was a gramophile, he wanted to go to a radio and record museum where he could see many old record players and old records, and maybe find more records in stores to add to his collection.
A collector of religious tracts: Mr. Church, a reverend and a guruophilist, was especially interested in treatises and essays on spiritual subjects and decided to move all of the works he had collected into his study at home.
A special fondness for not wearing raiment or apparel: Because of her gymnophily, the young woman was looking for a group of people with similar desires, so she joined a nudist colony.
gynophilian (adjective), more gynophilian, most gynophilian
Pertaining to a love for and attraction to women: James certainly was a gynophilian person who was always drawn towards women, made them compliments, and over the years had many love affairs.
gynophilous (adjective), more gynophilous, most gynophilous
Regarding a love of women: Robert always sat next to girls in school because he liked them so much, and when he grew up, he still liked and admired them and as a result, had an gynophilous affection towards them.
Someone who is fond of nibbling on a woman's ear: Tom thought that his wife's ears were beautiful, and while adoring and feeling affection for her, he always nipped on them. His wife told him that he must be a gynotikolobomassophile!
A plant living in gypsiferous (chalky) soil: There are some climbing gypsophiles, like grape vines, ivy jasmine, and the virginia creeper, and none of them have special nutrient requirements.
gypsophilous (adjective), more gypsophilous, most gypsophilous
Descriptive of a plant thriving in gypsiferous (chalky) soil: Gypsophilous shrubs include the butterfly bush, the rock rose, and lavender.
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.
