- -phile
- also -phil, word-forming element meaning "one that loves, likes, or is attracted to," via French -phile and Medieval Latin -philus in this sense, from Greek -philos, common suffix in personal names (such as Theophilos), from philos "loving, dear," from philein "to love," which is of unknown origin.
- ailurophile (n.)
- "cat lover," 1931, from Greek ailouros "cat," which is of unknown origin, + -phile.
- drosophila (n.)
- scientific name of a fruit fly, 1829, from Modern Latin (Fallén, 1823), from Greek drosos "dew" + philos "loving" see -phile).
- pamphlet (n.)
- "small, unbound treatise," late 14c., from Anglo-Latin panfletus, popular short form of "Pamphilus, seu de Amore" ("Pamphilus, or about Love"), a short 12c. Latin love poem popular and widely copied in Middle Ages; the name from Greek pamphilos "loved by all," from pan- "all" + philos "loving, dear" see -phile). Meaning "brief work dealing with questions of current interest" is late 16c.
- technophile (n.)
- 1968, from techno- + -phile.
- Negrophile
- 1803, from Negro + -phile.
- xenophile (nj.)
- 1922, from xeno- "foreign, strange" + -phile.
- Turkophile
- also Turcophile, 1876, from comb. form of Turk + -phile.
- gramophile (n.)
- fan of gramophone records, 1922, from gramophone + -phile.
- bibliophile (n.)
- also bibliophil, 1824, from French bibliophile, from biblio- + -phile.
- audiophile (n.)
- 1951, originally in "High Fidelity" magazine, from audio- + -phile.
- hippophile (n.)
- "horse-lover," 1852, from hippo- "horse" + -phile "one that loves."
- oenophile (n.)
- 1930 (as an adjective 1900), probably from French oenophile, from Greek oinos "wine" (see wine (n.)) + -phile.
- pedophilia (n.)
- 1900, from Greek pais (genitive paidos) "child" (see pedo-) + philos "loving" see -phile). First attested in an abstract of a report by Krafft-Ebing.
- Anglophile (adj.)
- 1864, in reference to France, from Anglo- + -phile. Both Anglomania (1787) and Anglophobia (1793) are first attested in writings of Thomas Jefferson.
- homophile (n.)
- 1960, from homo- (2) "homosexual" + -phile. An attempt to coin a word for a homosexual person as part of a social group, rather than a sexual deviant.
- Theophilus
- masc. proper name, Latinized form of Greek Theophilos, literally "dear to God; loved by the gods," from theos "god" (see theo-) + philos "loved, beloved" (see -phile).
- Francophile (adj.)
- "characterized by excessive fondness of France and the French," 1875, from Franco- + -phile. "A newspaper word" [OED]. Its opposite, Francophobe, is recorded from 1890 (implied in Francophobic; Francophobia is from 1862).
- acidophilus (adj.)
- 1920, used of milk fermented by acidophilic bacteria, from acidophil (1900), a hybrid word, from Latin acidus "acidic" (see acid (adj.)) + Greek philos "loving" (see -phile); the bacteria so called because they stain easily with an acid dye.
- Philadelphia
- city in Pennsylvania, U.S., from Greek, taken by William Penn to mean "brotherly love," from philos "loving" (see -phile) + adelphos "brother" (see Adelphia). Also the name recalls that of the ancient city in Lydia, mentioned in the New Testament, which was so called in honor of Attalos II Philadelphos, 2c B.C.E. king of Pergamon, who founded it. His title is said to have meant "loving the brethren." Philadelphia lawyer "clever, shrewd attorney" attested from 1788 in London, said originally to have been applied to Andrew Hamilton, who obtained the famous acquittal of J.P. Zenger on libel charges in 1735.
[C]ricket and coaching were after all popular in their day in places besides Philadelphia. It was merely that Philadelphia kept on with them longer than most places. This is a perennial Philadelphia trick, and gives to Philadelphia a sort of perpetual feeling of loss. Philadelphians are always just now getting rid of things that are picturesque, like those gas lamps on the streets, only because everybody else got rid of them long ago. [Nathaniel Burt, "The Perennial Philadelphians," 1963]
- 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).
- philhellene (adj.)
- 1824, "loving the Greeks," from Greek, from philos "loving" (see -phile) + Hellene "a Greek" (compare Hellenic). Originally in English in reference to the cause of Greek independence. Related: Philhellenic.
- paraphilia (n.)
- 1913, from German paraphilie (by 1903), apparently coined by Austrian ethnologist Friedrich Salomo Krauss (1859-1938) as literally "inverted erotic instinct," from Greek para- "beside, aside" (see para- (1)) + philos "loving" (see -phile).
The neurotic whose accompanying fancies always lead into forbidden ground (and this is what constitutes the guilt feeling of pollutions) fights against masturbation [pollutions] because it is connected with incest fancies, criminal desires, perversions, or as F.S. Krauss calls them, paraphilias. [Wm. J. Robinson, M.D., "Masturbation -- Injurious or Harmless," "American Journal of Urology," May 1913]
Krauss bereichert uns um das neue Wort "Paraphilie" anstelle der "Psychopathie," ein fortschrittlich-oppositionelles Wort zwar, aber auch nur ein Wort und als Aufklärung etwa so bedeutsam wie "Seitensprünge." ["Rezensionen" über die "Anthropophyteia Jahrbücher," Leipzig, 1907]
Popularized in psychology circles in English from c. 1918 in translation of work by Viennese-born psychotherapist Wilhelm Stekel (1868-1940); not in widespread use until 1950s. first used in "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" in 1980, as a morally neutral and more dignified label than perversion, to which it is nonetheless etymologically similar. Related: Paraphiliac; paraphilic.
- Philemon
- masc. proper name, in Greek mythology a pious man, husband of Baucis; from Greek philemon, literally "loving, affectionate," from philein "to love" (see philo-).
