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.
psilophilous (adjective), more psilophilous, most psilophilous
In biology, regarding a life form that thrives in prairie or savannah habitats: What searching the internet, June came across some psilophilous plants, like some species of aster and the blazing star, that preferred very warm weather and grassland environments.
The preference of an organism to dwell in a prairie environment: In her book on psilophily, Jill discovered that bush clover, the goldenrod, and the coneflower all favored a habitat in the prairie, but not in a forest.
An organism that is pollinated by butterflies or moths: Butterflies are psychophiles that fertilize mainly vegetable and herbs, especially carrots and dill.
psychophilous (adjective) (not comparable)
In biology, pollinated by diurnal Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths): Some psychophilous plants, like artichokes, lettuce, chicory and peas, are fertilized by butterflies. Some psychophilous flowers that are nocturnal, can be pollinated by moths.
An organism that grows best at a low temperature: A psychrophil is a form of life that thrives best from 0° to 32° C (32° to 86° F) with optimum growth occurring at 15° to 20° C (59° to 68° F). °
psychrophilic (adjective), more psychrophilic, most psychrophilic
In biology, pertaining to an organism thriving at low temperatures: Psychrophilic bacteria are extremophilic and are capable of growth at very low temperatures of 0° C to 15° C, or even best at 15° C to 20° C.
The feature pf organisms thriving at very low temperatures: When Joe was doing some research on the conditions of psychrophily, he found out that some forms of life were capable of development in such low temperature ranges from -20° C to about 20° C. Many of these life forms are bacteria or archaea, lichens, snow algae, or fungi.
Mucilloid (moist, soft, and viscid) prepared from psyllium seeds: Psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid is used as a bulk-type laxative.
ptenophyllophilous (adjective), more ptenophyllophilous, most ptenophyllophilous
In biology, concerning a form of life that thrives in deciduous forests: Spiders, slugs, and salamanders are just a few of the common ptenophyllophilous creatures that live in thickets with trees that lose their leaves in autumn and grow new ones in the spring.
ptenothalophilous (adjective), more ptenothalophilous, most ptenothalophilous
In biology, referring to an organism that dwells in deciduous thickets: Nancy learned that some ptenothalophilous insects, turtles, and some birds, like the broad-winged hawks and pileated woodpeckers, prefer living in forests that lose their leaves in autumn and grow new ones in the spring.
In psychiatry, one who has a special love for young girls: In one of her classes at medical school, Susan learned that a puellaphilist was a person who worshiped female children and might even have a sexual desires for them.
Someone who has a special fondness for working and solving puzzles: Jeanette was a real puzzlephile who loved doing lots of crossword puuules and especially sudoku!
A special love of or fondness for working and solving puzzles: Since Mary was addicted to doing puzzles of all kinds, her mother gave her a book on puzzlephilia, which introduced Mary to even more kinds of puzzles!
puzzlephilic (adjective), more puzzlephilic, most puzzlephilic
Descriptive of an individual who really enjoys doing puzzles: Jane had some friends who were puzzlephilic just like she was, and so they got together every week to solve riddles, mazes, mystery problems, etc. in the puzzle books that they had bought.
The fondness of solving puzzles: Grace, very interested in puzzlephily, not only had a weakness for doing all kinds puzzles, but even trying to create some of her own!
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.
