Online Etymology Dictionary

philodendron (n.): 1837, from the Modern Latin genus name (1830), from Greek philodendron, neuter of philodendros "loving trees," from philo- "loving" (see philo-) + dendron "tree" (see dendro-). The plant so called because it clings to trees.
philologist (n.): 1640s, "literary person;" 1716, "student of language," from philology + -ist.
philology (n.): late 14c., "love of learning," from Latin philologia "love of learning, love of letters, love of study, literary culture," from Greek philologia "love of discussion, learning, and literature; studiousness," from philo- "loving" (see philo-) + logos "word, speech" (see logos).

Meaning "science of language" is first attested 1716 (philologue "linguist" is from 1590s; philologer "linguistic scholar" is from 1650s); this confusing secondary sense has not been popular in the U.S., where linguistics is preferred. Related: Philological.
philomel (n.): "nightingale," late 14c., from Greek Philomela, poetic name of the nightingale, in mythology the daughter of Pandion, transformed into a nightingale; probably literally "lover of song," from philos "loving" + melos "a tune, song;" but perhaps "lover of apples" (Greek mela). In the myth, proper name of Pandion's daughter, who was turned into a nightingale (Ovid).
philophobia (n.): by 1976, from philo- + -phobia.
philoprogenitive (adj.): "prolific," 1815, irregularly formed from philo- + Latin progenit-, past participle stem of progignere (see progeny). Related: Philoprogenitiveness. Important words among the phrenologists.
philosophe (n.): "Enlightenment rationalist and skeptic," especially in reference to any of the French Encyclopædists, often disparaging (when used by believers), 1774, from French philosophe, literally "philosopher" (see philosopher). Usually italicized in English, but nativized by Peter Gay ("The Enlightenment," 1966) and others. Also philosophist (1798).
philosopher (n.): from Old English philosophe, from Latin philosophus "philosopher," from Greek philosophos "philosopher, sage, one who speculates on the nature of things and truth," literally "lover of wisdom," from philos "loving" (see -phile) + sophos "wise, a sage" (see sophist). Modern form with -r appears early 14c., from an Anglo-French or Old French variant of philosophe, with an agent-noun ending.
Pythagoras was the first who called himself philosophos, instead of sophos, 'wise man,' since this latter term was suggestive of immodesty. [Klein]
Philosophy also was used of alchemy in Middle Ages, hence Philosophers' stone (late 14c., translating Medieval Latin lapis philosophorum, early 12c.), a reputed solid substance supposed by alchemists to change baser metals into gold or silver; also identified with the elixir and thus given the attribute of prolonging life indefinitely and curing wounds and disease. (French pierre philosophale, German der Stein der Weisen).
philosophic (adj.): late 15c., from Middle French philosophique and directly from Late Latin philosophicus, from Greek philosophikos, from philosophia "philosophy" (see philosophy).
philosophical (adj.): late 14c.; see philosophy + -ical. Related: Philosophically.
philosophize (v.): 1590s, from philosophy + -ize. Related: Philosophized; philosophizing. The earlier verb was simply philosophy (late 14c.).
philosophy (n.): c. 1300, "knowledge, body of knowledge," from Old French filosofie "philosophy, knowledge" (12c., Modern French philosophie) and directly from Latin philosophia and from Greek philosophia "love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom; systematic investigation," from philo- "loving" (see philo-) + sophia "knowledge, wisdom," from sophis "wise, learned;" of unknown origin.
Nec quicquam aliud est philosophia, si interpretari velis, praeter studium sapientiae; sapientia autem est rerum divinarum et humanarum causarumque quibus eae res continentur scientia. [Cicero, "De Officiis"]

[Philosophical problems] are, of course, not empirical problems; but they are solved through an insight into the workings of our language, and that in such a way that these workings are recognized -- despite an urge to misunderstand them. The problems are solved, not through the contribution of new knowledge, rather through the arrangement of things long familiar. Philosophy is a struggle against the bewitchment (Verhexung) of our understanding by the resources of our language. [Ludwig Wittgenstein, "Philosophical Investigations," 1953]
Meaning "system a person forms for conduct of life" is attested from 1771.
philtre (n.): also philter, "love potion," 1580s, from Middle French philtre (1560s), from Latin philtrum (plural philtra) "love potion," from Greek philtron "a love-charm," literally "to make oneself beloved," from philein "to love" (from philos "loving;" see philo-) + instrumental suffix -tron.
philtrum (n.): dimple in the middle of the upper lip, 1703, medical Latin, from Greek philtron, literally "love charm" (see philtre).
phimosis (n.): 1670s, from Greek phimosis, literally "muzzling," from phimos "a muzzle."
phishing (n.): in the cyber scam sense, by 2000 (some sources cite usage from 1995); alteration of fishing (n.); perhaps by influence of phreak and the U.S. rock band Phish, which had been performing since 1983.
phiz (n.): 1680s, jocular abbreviation of physiognomy; hence "face, countenance, facial expression."
phlebitis (n.): 1820, medical Latin, from phlebo- "vein" + -itis "inflammation."
phlebo-: word-forming element in medicine meaning "vein," from Greek phlebo-, comb. form of phleps "vein," a word of uncertain origin.
phlebotomist (n.): 1650s, from phlebotomy + -ist. Related: Phlebotomize.
phlebotomy (n.): "bloodletting," c. 1400, flebotomye, from Old French flebotomie (13c., Modern French phlébotomie), from medical Latin phlebotomia, from Greek phlebotomia "blood-letting," from phlebotomos "opening veins," from phleps (genitive phlebos) "vein" + -tomia "cutting of," from tome "a cutting" (see tome).
phlegm (n.): late 14c., fleem "viscid mucus" (the stuff itself and also regarded as a bodily humor), from Old French fleume (13c., Modern French flegme), from Late Latin phlegma, one of the four humors of the body, from Greek phlegma "humor caused by heat," lit "inflammation, heat," from phlegein "to burn," related to phlox (genitive phlogos) "flame, blaze," from PIE *bhleg- "to shine, flash," from root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach (v.)). Modern form is attested from c. 1660. The "cold, moist" humor of the body, in medieval physiology, it was believed to cause apathy.
phlegmatic (adj.): "cool, calm, self-possessed," and in a more pejorative sense, "cold, dull, apathetic," 1570s, from literal sense "abounding in phlegm (as a bodily humor)" (mid-14c., fleumatik), from Old French fleumatique (13c., Modern French flegmatique), from Late Latin phlegmaticus, from Greek phlegmatikos "abounding in phlegm" (see phlegm).
A verry flewmatike man is in the body lustles, heuy and slow. [John of Trevisa, translation of Bartholomew de Glanville's "De proprietatibus rerum," 1398]
phlegmy (adj.): 1540s, from phlegm + -y (2).
phloem (n.): 1870, from German phloëm (1858), coined by German botanist Karl Wilhelm von Nägeli (1817-1891) from Greek phloos, phloios "bark of trees," of uncertain origin, + passive suffix -ema.
phlogiston (n.): 1730, hypothetical inflammatory principle, formerly believed to exist in all combustible matter, from Modern Latin (1702), from Greek phlogiston (1610s in this sense), neuter of phlogistos "burnt up, inflammable," from phlogizein "to set on fire, burn," from phlox (genitive phlogos) "flame, blaze" (see bleach (v.)). Theory propounded by Stahl (1702), denied by Lavoisier (1775), defended by Priestley but generally abandoned by 1800. Related: Phlogistic; phlogisticated.
phlox (n.): 1706, from Latin, where it was the name of a flower (Pliny), from Greek phlox "kind of plant with showy flowers" (probably Silene vulgaris), literally "flame," related to phlegein "to burn" (see bleach (v.)). Applied to the North American flowering plant by German botanist Johann Jakob Dillenius (1684-1747).
Phnom Penh: Cambodian capital, literally "mountain of plenty," from Cambodian phnom "mountain, hill" + penh "full."
phobia (n.): "irrational fear, horror, aversion," 1786, perhaps on model of similar use in French, abstracted from compounds in -phobia, from Greek -phobia, from phobos "fear, panic fear, terror, outward show of fear; object of fear or terror," originally "flight" (still the only sense in Homer), but it became the common word for "fear" via the notion of "panic, fright" (compare phobein "put to flight, frighten"), from PIE root *bhegw- "to run" (source also of Lithuanian begu "to flee;" Old Church Slavonic begu "flight," bezati "to flee, run;" Old Norse bekkr "a stream"). Psychological sense attested by 1895.
phobic (adj.): 1888, from phobia + -ic. As a noun from 1968. The Greek adjective was phobetikos "liable to fear."
phobophobia (n.): "morbid dread of being alarmed," 1890; see phobia.
phoebe (n.): small North American flycatcher, pewit, 1700, phebe, so called in imitation of its cry; spelling altered (1839) by influence of the woman's proper name Phoebe.
Phoebe: fem. proper name, late 14c., originally a name of Artemis as the goddess of the moon, from Latin Phoebe, from Greek phoibos "bright, pure," of unknown origin. The fem. form of Phoebus, an epithet of Apollo as sun-god.
Phoebus: epithet of Apollo as sun-god, late 14c., from Latin Phoebus, from Greek Phoibos, literally "bright, shining, radiant," of unknown origin. Related: Phoeban.
Phoenician (n.): late 14c., from Middle French phenicien, from Latin Phoenice, from Greek Phoinike "Phoenicia" (including Carthage), perhaps literally "land of the purple" (i.e., source of purple dye, the earliest use of which was ascribed to the Phoenicians by the Greeks). Identical with phoenix (q.v.), but the relationship is obscure. In reference to a language from 1836; as an adjective from c. 1600.
phoenix (n.): Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenix, from Greek phoinix, the mythical bird of Arabia which flew to Egypt every 500 years to be reborn; it also meant "the date" (fruit and tree), and "Phoenician," literally "purple-red," perhaps a foreign word (Egyptian has been suggested), or from phoinos "blood-red." The exact relation and order of the senses in Greek is unclear.
Ðone wudu weardaþ wundrum fæger
fugel feþrum se is fenix hatan
["Phoenix," c.900]
Spelling assimilated to Greek 16c. (see ph). Figurative sense of "that which rises from the ashes of what was destroyed" is attested from 1590s. The city in Arizona, U.S., so called because it was founded in 1867 on the site of an ancient Native American settlement.
phone (n.1): 1884, shortening of telephone (n.). Phone book first recorded 1925; phone booth 1927; phone bill 1901.
phone (v.): 1884, from phone (n.). Related: Phoned; phoning.
phone (n.2): "elementary sound of a spoken language," 1866, from Greek phone "sound, voice," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)).
phoneme (n.): "distinctive sound or group of sounds," 1889, from French phonème, from Greek phonema "a sound made, voice," from phonein "to sound or speak," from phone "sound, voice," from PIE root *bha- (2) "speak" (see fame (n.)).
phonemic (adj.): 1933, from phoneme + -ic. Related: Phonemics (1936); phonemically.
phonetic (adj.): "representing vocal sounds," 1803, from Modern Latin phoneticus (1797), from Greek phonetikos "vocal," from phonetos "to be spoken, utterable," verbal adjective of phonein "to speak clearly, utter," from phone "sound, voice," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)).
phonetics (n.): "scientific study of speech," 1841, from phonetic; also see -ics.
phonic (adj.): "pertaining to sound," 1793, from Greek phone "voice," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)) + -ic.
phonics (n.): 1680s, "science of sound," from Greek phone "sound," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)) + -ics. As a method of teaching reading it is first attested 1908, though the system dates from 1844.
phono-: word-forming element meaning "sound, voice," from Greek phono-, comb. form of phone "voice, sound," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say" (see fame (n.)).
phonogram (n.): 1845, "a written symbol," from phono- + -gram. From 1879 as "a sound recording."
phonograph (n.): 1835, "character representing a sound," literally "writer of sounds," from phono- "sound" + -graph "instrument for recording; something written." Meaning "an instrument that produces sounds from records" (talking phonograph, invented by Thomas A. Edison) it is attested from 1877. The recording made from it at first was called a phonogram (1879).
phonographic (adj.): 1840, originally in reference to shorthand; see phono- + graphic. Modern sense from 1878.
phonolite (n.): a kind of volcanic rock that rings when struck, c. 1830, literally "sounding stone," from phono- + -lite. Based on German klingstein.