The building blocks of English
Affixes
phil(o)-
Liking for a specified thing.
Greek philein, to love, or philos, loving.
A philanthropist (Greek anthrōpos, human being) is a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others; a philogynist (Greek gunē, woman) likes or admires women; someone philoprogenitive has many offspring; a philosopher is literally a lover of wisdom, from Greek sophos, wise; similarly, philology, the study of languages, literally means ‘love of learning’, from Greek logos, word or speech; the adjective philharmonic, devoted to music, is mainly used in the names of orchestras. The form also marks an admirer of a country or people, as with philhellene, a lover of Greece and Greek culture, or philosemitism, admiration for the Jewish people. However, philistine, a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, derives from the Hebrew name for the people.
Support this website
This dictionary contains more than 1,250 entries, illustrated by some 10,000 examples, all defined and explained for your information and emjoyment.
There are no advertisements to interrupt your reading pleasure. I rely on your generosity to cover running costs. Donations made via PayPal are secure.