-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. Philia 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.

A

acrotomophilia: Love of amputees
ailurophilia: Love of cats
ammophilia: Love of sand and sandy places
androphilia: Love of 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
chiropterophilia: Love of bats
chrysophilia: Love of gold
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
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
philalethia: Love of the truth
philately: Interest in postage stamps
philology: Love of language and reason
philosemitism: Interest in or respect for the Jewish people, and the historical significance of the Jewish culture
philosophy: Love of wisdom
photophilia: Love of living or spending time in lighted conditions
phytophilia: Love of plants
pogonophilia: Love of beards
psammophilia: A plant loving sandy areas
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

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
tropophilia: Love of seasonal extremes of climate
turophilia: Love of cheese
typhlophilia: Love of the blind

U

V

W

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
zebraphilia: 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.

-Philia

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Z

Other words

See also