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 substance that has an equal affinity for the same dye: An isochromatophil can be a cell or a tissue that can be stained with the same dye.
isophilic (adjective), more isophilic, most isophilic
In psychiatry, a term describing the affectionate behavior towards others of the same sex: The isophilic relationship between the two girls didn't involve any intimacy implying the genital element characteristic of homosexuality.
An admirer of Italy or of its people, language, and culture: Mrs. Robertson is a real Italophile who takes courses in the Italian language and goes on trips to Italy whenever she can.
The admiration and enjoyment of Italy, the culture, the ideas, etc.: Ever since Judy went on a trip to Italy with her parents, she just loved the country, became quite proficient with the language, and finally even moved there!
One who loves jigsaw puzzles: Chuck turned out to be a jigsimophilist who spent all of his free time doing puzzles, especially jigsaw puzzles, and he had a whole collection of them with pictures of animals, towns, landscapes, etc.
A collector of Japanese roll-pictures: After being in Japan for a year, Nancy thought that the scroll paintings or calligraphies that were mounted with silk fabric edges were very beautiful. It could also be rolled for storing, which was terrific for transporting back to her home town. She she acquired many of them and, as a kakemonophilist, hung them up in her living room.
A collector of leather garments: Janet, a karossophilist, just loved articles, like purses and belts, and clothing, like jackets and pants, made from the skins of animals that had been made smooth by taking off the hair and by tanning, and her closet was full of such lovely pieces.
One kind of fungus that grows on the protein of the hair and nails: A keratinophile can thrive on a person's toenails, for example.
keratinophilic (adjective) (not comparable)
Regarding the ability to grow on keratin: A keratinophilic fungus uses the protein of hair and nails to thrive on.
Denoting fungi that use keratin as a substrata: After reading about keratinophily, Max learned that a parasite, a fungus, like a dermatophyte, infects especially an individual's fingernails or toenails.
A person who has an enthusiastic interest or pursuit in cinemas: As a kinophile, Marc loved to go to the movies, and sometimes he even went two times a day during the holiday seasons.
An individual who loves the warning horns on vehicles: Tony was quite intrigued by the very loud blasts of the horns or klaxons, a very old-fashioned term for a car horn, so, with time, he turned into a klaxonophile and collected a number of these horns at antique stores and had them on display in his living room!
A collector of bottle labels: Little Jenny thought that the colored pictures and words on the labels on the glass containers her mother had in the kitchen were neat, so she saved all the ones she could remove from the containers. Her parents termed her as being a labalophilist!
One who collects beer bottle labels: Russel liked drinking different kinds of beer, so he saved the labels of the various kinds so that he could compare them with his friends, who were also labeorphilists, and had quite a collection of them, too.
The activity of collecting beer bottle labels: Bill didn't know anything about labeorphily until his friend told hin about others in town who had saved lots of labels from beer bottles from all over the world!
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.
