-phil-

The Greek root "-Phil-" originates from the Greek word meaning "love". For example, Philosophy (along with the Greek root "-soph-" meaning "wisdom") is the study of human customs and the significance of life. One of the most common uses of the root "-phil-" is with philias.

A philia is the love or obsession with a particular thing or subject. The suffix -philia is used to specify the love or obsession with something more specific. It is somewhat antonymic to -phobia. Philias can be biological (e. g. Rhizophilia, preference for living on roots), or Chemical (e. g. Chromophilous, materials that stain easily), or can be a hobby/liking (e. g. Icthyophilia, love for fish).

Philia (φιλιά) as a Greek word for love refers to brotherly love, including friendship and affection. This contrasts to the Greek terms Eros, or sexual/romantic love, and agape, or detached, spiritual love. However, English usage differs in some cases from the eytmological use, and several of these words refer in English not to brotherly love but to sexual attraction.

The suffix -phile (or, in a few cases, -philiac) applies to someone who has one of these philia. It is the antonym of -phobic.

Phil- (philo-) may also be used as a prefix with a similar meaning.

Biology[]

Acidophilia - preference of acidic conditions.
Alkaliphilia - preference of alkaline environments
Anthophilia - attraction to flowers
Anthropophile - attracted to humans (e.g., parasites)
Anemophily: a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind
Capnophile: microorganism that thrives in the presence of high concentrations of carbon dioxide
Cryophilia - preference for cold environments, climates, objects and low temperatures; e.g., Protea cryophila (Snow Protea)
Dacryphilia: attraction to tears
Dendrophilia - preference of trees or other plants
Entomophilous: adapted for pollination by insects
Extremophilia - preference of living extremal conditions for some microorganisms
Geophilia - preferring to organisms that prefer the soil
Halophilia - attraction to salt or salt-water
Heliophilia - attraction to sunlight
Hydrophilia: attraction to water
Hyperthermophilia - organisms that thrive in extremely hot environments
Limnophilia - preference of ponds or marshes
Lithophilia - preference or affinity to stones
Mesophilia - preference of moderate temperatures in microorganisms
Microaerophilia - organisms that can tolerate or require environments containing low levels of oxygen
Myrmecophilia: love for the ants
Nemophilia: love of the woods and forests
Necrophilia - an attraction to the dead
Neutrophile: organism that thrives in a neutral pH environment
Nyctophilia: an attraction to darkness or night; finding relaxation or comfort in the darkness. Preferring nighttime activities to daytime activities.
Ombrophilia - affinity to large amounts of rainfall
Petrophilia - preference of living or spending time in rocky areas
Photophilia - preference of living or spending time in lighted conditions
Pluviophilia - affinity to rain
Psammophile - a plant loving sandy areas
Psychrophilia - preference of cold temperatures
Rheophilia: preference of living in running water
Sciaphilia - preference of living in shady or dark areas (as opposed to photophilia)
Thermophilia: love of high temperatures; thriving in high temperatures (e.g. microbes)
Tropophilia - preference of seasonal extremes of climate
Trichophilia: an attraction to hair or fur
Vorarephilia: sexual attraction to being eaten by or eating humans
Xenophilia: an affection for unknown, foreign objects, or people.
Xerophilia: love of living or spending time in very dry conditions
Xylophilia: love of wood
Zoophily: a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by animals

Chemistry and physics[]

Electrophile: a chemical species that forms bonds with nucleophiles by accepting a pair of electrons
Hydrophilic: (of a substance) having a tendency to interact with or be dissolved by water and other polar substances
Lipophilic: solubility or solvability of a substance with lipids
Lipophilic: (of a substance) in microfluidics, enriching on channel walls instead of in the middle of the channels (e.g. air bubbles)
Nucleophile: a chemical species that donates an electron pair to form a chemical bond. Antonym: electrophile

Hobbies[]

Audiophilia: love of high-fidelity sound reproduction
Arctophilia: love of teddy bears; especially, an interest in collecting teddy bears
Bibliophilia: love of books
Cartophilia: love of maps
Cinephilia: love of cinema and film
Philately: the study of stamps and postal history and other related items
Glossophilia: love of languages (synonym for philology)
Logophilia: love of words – logophiles may be interested in word games, such as crosswords, or Scrabble, and in the extreme, derive enjoyment from reading things commonly given less notice, such as labels
Metrophilia: love of the metro rail or subway systems
Neophilia: love of the latest novelties and trends
Oenophilia: love of wine
Ornithophilia: love of birds
Taphophilia: love of graves, cemeteries and funerals
Technophilia: love of technology
Videophile: person who is concerned with achieving high-quality results in the recording and playback of movies, TV programs, etc.

National or ethnic[]

Anglophile: a non-English person who is extremely fond of all things English. Antonym: Anglophobe
Australophile: a fan of Australian culture
Austrophile: a fan of Austrian culture
Celtophile: a fan of Celtic culture
Europhile: a person who wants to increase cooperation between governments within the European Union. Antonym: Eurosceptic
Fennophile: a fan of Finnish culture
Francophile or Gallophile: a fan of French culture. Antonym: Francophobe
Germanophile or Teutophile: a fan of German culture. Antonyms: Germanophobe and teutophobia
Hellenophile: a fan of Greek culture (i.e. someone prone to philhellenism)
Hibernophile: a lover of Ireland or Irish culture
Hispanophile: a lover of Spanish (Spain) culture and people
Indophile: a fan of India
Italophile: a fan of Italy. Antonym: Italophobia
Japanophile: a non-Japanese person with a strong interest in Japan or Japanese culture. Antonym: Japanophobe
Judeophile: a lover of Jews or Jewish culture. Antonyms: Judeophobe and antisemite
Kartvelophile: an interest for Georgian culture
Negrophilia: a term used in the 1920s and 30s for the interest in Europe for African and African-American culture
Russophilia: love of Russia and Russians. Antonym: Russophobe
Sinophile: a non-Chinese person with a strong interest in China or Chinese culture. Antonym: Sinophobe
Slavophile: a fan of Slavic culture
Suecophile: someone with a great interest in the Swedish language and culture

Sexual paraphilias[]

List of paraphilias
Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. Such attraction may be labeled sexual fetishism.

Other[]

Biophilia hypothesis
Erotophilia: a personality trait which assesses an individual's disposition to respond to sexual cues
Haemophilia: a disease relating to blood clotting
Homophile: a term used to refer to gay people or those who supported homosexuality, prior to gay liberation and other LGBT social movements. It was proposed as an alternative to homosexual, that would have a more positive connotation, before the word "gay" became dedicated for this purpose
Pluviophile: love of the rain
Retrophilia: love of things of the past
Theophilia: love of a god
Topophilia: a strong sense of place, which often becomes mixed with the sense of cultural identity among certain people and a love of certain aspects of such a place

Prefix phil-[]

Philadelphia
Philanderer
Philandry
Philanthropy
Philately
Philhellenism: the love of Greek culture (this may also be called hellenophilia)
Philogyny
Philology
Philomath
Philosophy
Phillumenism