-philia

American  

1. a combining form used in the formation of compound words that have the general sense “love or liking” (ailurophilia,Anglophilia ), “unnatural attraction” (coprophilia,necrophilia ), “tendency” (biophilia,hemophilia, ) in histology, “cell staining with a specific dye” (chromophilia,eosinophilia ); also forming abstract nouns that correspond to adjectives ending in -philic or -philous or nouns ending in -phile (zoophilia,spasmophilia ).

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-philia British  

combining form

1. indicating a tendency towards

   haemophilia

2. indicating an abnormal liking for

   necrophilia

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Usage

What does -philia mean? The combining form -philia is used like a suffix that has a variety of meanings in different contexts. Generally, it means “love or liking,” "unnatural attraction," or "tendency."In some specific terms from chemistry or biology, it is used to mean "cell staining with a specific dye." It is often used in scientific and everyday terms, especially in biology and psychology. The form -philia is used to make noun forms of words ending in -philic, -philous, or -phile.The form -philia comes from Greek philía, meaning “friendship, affinity.” The Latin translation is amīcitia, which is the source of such words as amity.While -philia doesn’t have any variants, it is related to six other combining forms: -phile, -philiac, -philic, -philism, -philous, and -phily. Want to know more? Check out our Words that Use articles for each form.

Other Word Forms

• -philiac combining form

Etymology

Origin of -philia

From Greek philía “friendship, affinity”; -phile, -ia; -phily ( def. )