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.

laclabophilist (s) (noun), laclabophilists (pl)
A collector of cheese labels: Lois was amazed that her friend was a laclabophilist who saved and glued all the labels from the various kinds of cheese into a notebook she had bought especially for them!
Laconophile (s) (noun), Laconophiles (pl)
Anyone who has a love or fondness for Lacedaemon, or Sparta, in Laconia, and its culture and laws; Laconophiles admire the Spartans, praise their valor in war, their military successes, their aristocratic and virtuous ways, the stable order of their politcal life, and their constitution, with its tripartite mixed government.

The term, "tripartite" refers to a form of government which integrated aspects of democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy.

lalophilic (adjective), more lalophilic, most lalophilic
Referring to someone who has a fondness for talking: Jane's aunt was a lalophilic lady who rambled on about the weather, gardening, her children, etc. whenever there was someone around to listen to her!
lariatophilist (s) (noun), lariatophilists (pl)
A collector of cowboy gear: Sam loved horses and wanted to have the best equipment for riding, and, as a lariatophilist, acquired a large number of such cowboy supplies, outfits, and accessories.
lattenophilist, lattenophile (s) (noun); lattenophilists; lattenophiles (pl)
A collector of brassware: Some people, or lattenophilists, love items made of an alloy of copper and zink, and have a whole collection of such articles, like doorknobs, bowls, and even light fixtures, and have them decoratively presented in their homes.
laurophile (s) (noun), laurophiles (pl)
An organism that thrives in sewers and drains: There are several microbes, or laurophiles, like the Arcobacter or the Trichococcus, that can develop in the sewer pipe system in urban areas.
laurophilous (adjective), more laurophilous, most laurophilous
Relating to a form of life that develops in drains or sewers: Jack learned that some laurophilous organisms or microbes inhabit the sewage systems, but not the drinking water or the ground water.
laurophily (s) (noun) (no pl)
The occurrence of a life form dwelling in sewers or drains: After learning about laurophily being the condition of microbes, like the Acinetobacter and the Aeromonas, existing in the sewer pipe infrastructure in town, Joe decided to learn more about microorganisms and their characteristics.
lepidopterophilist (s) (noun), lepidopterophilists (pl)
A collector of butterflies: In college, the biology students studied lepidopterology and learned a lot about the different kinds of moths and butterflies, and Mr. Smith, a lepidopterophist, even had a collection of butterflies for the students to view.
lepidopterophilous (adjective), more lepidopterophilous, most lepidopterophilous
A reference to the pollination by butterflies and moths: Lepidopterophilous flowers are those that are fertilized by butterflies that land on a flower to drink the nectar and then transfer the pollen from flower to flower while drinking more and more nectar.
lepidopterophily (s) (noun) (no pl)
A special attraction to, or fondness for, butterflies: Little Jenny loved watching and was fascinated by the butterflies sitting on flowers and drinking the nectar int the garden. Her parents thought that her lepidopterophily could be encouraged by a book or two including colored pictures and descriptions of the varieties of butterflies and moths.
lexiconophilia (s) (noun), lexiconophilias (pl)
A strong love of dictionaries, web sites, and other sources of information about words or vocabulary information: The sources of lexiconophilia involve many people who spend a great deal of time striving to increase their word knowledge.

There are various lexiconophilias that exist in various languages.

lexiconophilist (s) (noun), lexiconophilists (pl)
A person who collects dictionaries and related books about words because he or she has a fondness for vocabulary: The author of this extensive dictionary had a library full of different lexica, encyclopaedias, glossaries, and word lists for doing his research, and so he was certainly a lexiconophilist!
lexophile (s) (noun), lexophiles (pl)
A lover of words, especially clever ones in games, humorous word compositions, puzzles, anagrams, palindromes, etc.: The lexophile of this lexicon collected these witty word creations to enjoy.
  • You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.
  • To try to write with a broken pencil is pointless.
  • When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.
  • When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.
  • A will is usually a dead giveaway.
  • A boiled egg is hard to beat.
  • When you have seen one shopping center, you have seen a mall.
  • Did you hear about the fellow whose entire left side was cut off? He's all right now.
  • A bicycle can't stand alone. It's just two tired.
  • When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
  • The man had a photographic memory which was never developed.
  • When the woman saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.
  • Acupuncture is a jab well done. That's the point of it.
  • Those who get too big for their pants will be totally exposed at the end.
lichenophile
Quiz button #1 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.