-phil(e)

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-phil(e) repr., through med. and modL. -philus, F. -phile, Gr. terminal el. -philos ‘dear to’, ‘beloved by’, as in Theophilus dear to God; with sense ‘loving, devoted or favourable to’ in medL. and later, e.g. modL. botanophilus amateur botanist, Eng. bibliophile (- F.), and many formations like Anglophil(e). The corr. adj. suffix is -philous, frequent in bot. and zool., with the sense ‘having affinity to or preference for’, as hygrophilous; with corr. nouns of state or quality in -phily, -philism.

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