-philia
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 antonymic to -phobia.
| Suffixes |
| -cide |
| -cycle |
| -cracy |
| -dom |
| -ic |
| -ism |
| -ist |
| -mania |
| -ography |
| -oid |
| -ology |
| -omics |
| -onomy |
| -onym |
| -philia |
| -phobia |
| -scope |
| -stan |
| -ville |
| -ware |
Philia (φιλία) 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, it should be noted that English usage differs in some cases from the etymological 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.
What follows is a list of words that have the suffix -philia.
| Contents: | top - 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|---|
A
- acrotomophilia: Love of amputees
- ailurophilia: Love of cats
- ammophilia: Love of sand and sandy places
- androphilia: Love of men
- andromimetophilia: Love of women dressed as men
- Anglophilia: Love of English and/or England (and often British and/or Britain)
- anthophilia: Attraction to flowers
- apodysophilia: Desire to undress, see also nudism
- apotemnophilia: Desire to amputate a healthy limb
- arctophilia: Love of Teddy Bears
- astrophilia: Love of astronomy and/or outer space in general
- asiaphilia: Love of Asian culture and/or women/men
- audiophilia: Love of recorded sound
- Australophilia: Love of Australians and/or Australia (lit. love of the south)
- autogynephilia: Love of oneself as a woman
- autovoxiphilia: Love of one's own voice
B
- bibliophilia: Love of books
- biophilia: Love of nature
C
- cacophonophilia: Love of harsh sounds
- cagophilia: Love of keys
- canidaephilia: Sexual attraction/orientation to canines
- canophilia: Love of dogs
- cartophilia: Love of cigarette cards
- chasmophilia: Love of small places
- chelonaphilia: Love of turtles
- chiropterophilia: Love of bats
- chrysophilia: Love of gold
- claustrophilia: Love of enclosed spaces
- clinophilia: Love of beds
- coprophilia: Sexual pleasure from feces
- crurophilia: Love of legs
- cypripareuniaphilia: Love of prostitutes
D
- dendrophilia: Love of trees
- discophilia: Love of sound recordings
E
- ecdysiophilia: Love of watching people strip
- ephebophilia: Sexual attraction towards adolescents
- ergophilia: Love of work
- Europhilia: Love of Europe and/or Europeans
F
- Francophilia, Gallophilia: Love of France and/or the French
- Forniphilia: Love of making furniture from humans in bondage.
G
- geophilia: Love of earth or geology
- Germanophilia: Love of Germany and/or German
- gerontophilia: Sexual attraction towards the elderly
- glossophilia: Love of languages
- gynephilia: Love of women
- gynotikolobomassophilia: Love of biting a female's earlobes
H
- halophilia: Love of salt or salt-water
- heliophilia: Love of sunlight
- hippophilia: Love of horses
- harpaxophilia: Love of being a robbery victim
- hirsutophilia: Love of hairy men
- homophilia: Love of the same sex (i.e. homosexuality)
- Hoplophilia: Sexual arousal from firearms and weaponry
- hydrophilia: Love of water
- hygrophilia: Love of living next to or spending time around water
I
- iconophilia: Love of pictures and symbols
- insulaphilia: Love of islands
- Islandophilia: Love of Iceland, Icelandic culture, etc.
J
- Japonophilia: Love of Japan
K
- klismaphilia: Sexual pleasure from enemas
- korophilia: Love of young men or boys
L
- lavacultophilia: Desire to stare at someone in a bathing suit
- lexiconophilia: Love of dictionaries and wordbooks
- limnophilia: Love of ponds or marshes
- lithophilia: Love of stones
- 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
- lygophilia: Love of darkness
M
- Macrophilia: Sexual attraction to giants and large things
- maiesiophilia: Sexual attraction to childbirth or pregnant women
- maimouphilia, pithikosophilia: Love of monkeys
- malophilia: Love of apples
- mechaphilia: Sexual attraction to mechanical objects
- megamalophilia: Extreme love of apples, or love of the Big Apple
- metrophilia: Love of the metro rail or subway systems
- Microphilia: Sexual attraction to small things and things of smaller size
- Mysophilia: Love of feces
- myrmecophilia: Love of ants
N
- nanophilia: Love of short people
- necrophilia: Sexual attraction to corpses
- necropedophilia: love of young dead people
- negrophilia: Love of black people
- nemophilia: Love of the woods/forests
- neophilia: Love of the latest novelties and trends
- Nipponophilia: Love of the Japanese and/or Japan
- nitrophilia: Love of nitrogen and explosions
- notaphilia: Love of bank-notes and cheques
- nyctophilia: A preference for darkness or night.
O
- oenophilia: Love of Wine
- ombrophilia: Love of large amounts of rainfall
- ophiophilia: Love of snakes
- ornithophilia: Love of birds
- osmophilia: Love of various smells
P
- paedophilia: Sexual attraction to children
- palaeophilia: Love of dinosaurs and prehistoric things
- paraphilia: Any sexual attraction considered unusual or taboo
- parthenophilia: Love of virgins
- pedophilia: Sexual attraction to children
- peristerophilia: Love of pigeons
- petrophilia: Love of living or spending time in rocky areas
- philophilia: Love of love
- photophilia: Love of living or spending time in lighted conditions
- phytophilia: Love of plants
- pogonophilia: Love of beards
- psychrophilia: Love of cold temperatures
- pygophilia: Love of buttocks
Q
R
- retrophilia: Love of things of the past
- rheophilia: Love of living or spending time in running water
- rhinophilia: Love of noses
- rhizophilia: Love of living or spending time on roots
- Russophilia: Love of Russia and/or Russians
S
- sapophilia: Arousal from researching paraphilia
- sarcophilia: Love of flesh
- sciophilia: Love of living or spending time in shady conditions
- Scopophilia: Sexual pleasure from seeing things
- Scotophilia: Love of Scotland and/or the Scottish
- scripophilia: Love of bond and share certificates
- Sinophilia: Love of China and/or the Chinese
- stegophilia: Love of climbing buildings
- stigmatophilia: Love of tattooing or branding
T
- technophilia: Love of technology
- thalassophilia: Love of the ocean
- theophilia: Love of a God
- thermophilia: Love of high temperatures; thriving in high temperatures (e.g. microbes)
- threpterophilia: Love of female nurses
- timbrophilia: Love of stamps
- tobaccophilia: Love of tobacco
- topophilia: Love of a particular place
- toxophilia: Love of archery
- trichophilia: Love of hair
- tropophilia: Love of seasonal extremes of climate
- turophilia: Love of cheese
- typhlophilia: Love of the blind
U
V
- Velophilia: Sexual attraction to bicycles
W
- wikiphilia: Wikiphilia: A mental illness characterized by the irrational conviction that any problem faced by a group can be rendered solvable through installation and use of a Wiki. This delusional ailment has been occurring in increasing numbers ever since it was first identified in 1995.
X
- xenophilia: Love of foreigners (in science-fiction, can also mean sexual attraction to aliens)
- xerophilia: Love of living or spending time in very dry conditions
- xylophilia: Love of wood
- xyrophilia: Love or attraction to blades and razors
Z
- zoophilia: Love of non-human animals
- zebrophilia: Love of zebras
Other words
There are a number of words that contain the same -philia suffix, but which are not a human love for something
- chromophilous: Staining easily
- electrophile: A substance having an affinity for electrons or negative charge
- entomophilous: Adapted for pollination by insects
- hemophilia: A disease relating to blood clotting
- nucleophile:A substance having an affinity for positive charge; antyonym of electrophile.
- lipophilic: A substance that is attracted to lipids, as in cell membranes.
- psammophilia: A plant loving sandy areas