‘Phile’ is an interesting word root (which is used as suffix and prefix as well). This root is super-interesting, for it is one which is based on ‘love’ and talks only of ‘love’. Well, love is one thing that fascinates mankind and you would be surprised that we have built literally a small vocabulary databank based on this root.
‘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.