‘Phil’ in Greek means love. So it can be used as a prefix or a suffix with other words, most of which have their root in Greek only. If ‘phil’ is used as a prefix then normally the word meaning will be like ‘love for _____’ where the dash represents the meaning of that word which has been used along with ‘phil’.
When a suffix, ‘phil’ is used by two ways. When the suffix is ‘phile’ then the word refers to a ‘person who loves _____’. If the suffix is ‘philia’ then the word refers to the ‘love for _____’.
Let’s dig into some of these words:
1. astrophile – person interested in astronomy. ‘Astro’ is a Greek word used for stars and an Astrophile is a person who loves studying stars.
2. homophile – one who prefers the company of the same sex; a homosexual
3. logophile – a lover of words. The word root here is ‘logo’ which means words or speech in Greek. A good orator or a polyglot can be a logophile.
4. neophile – one who loves novelty and trends. The root is ‘neo’ which means new; so all those who love new trends or like to try new things are called neophiles.
5. stigmatophilia- obsession of tattooing or branding
6. technophile – one who is fond of technology
7. theophile – one who loves or is loved by God. This term is mainly used for those people who believe in God and pray regularly.
8. xenophilia – love of foreigners
9. xerophily – adaptation to very dry conditions
10. zoophilia – loving or caring for animals; bestiality.
Post contributed by Archit Sehgal.
