Compound words ending '-phile', '-phil', '-philism', '-philia', '-philiac', '-philous', '-philic', and '-phily'

English has many compound words ending -phile, -phil, -philism, -philia, -philiac, -philous, -philic, or -phily - endings which derive from the Ancient Greek φίλος (philos, loving, friendly, a friend) or its cognates, the noun φιλία (philia, love, friendship) and adjectives φίλιος (philios), φιλικός (philikos}, and φιλιακός (philiakos), all meaning 'friendly'. Although at the most general level all these endings indicate a love of, liking for, or attraction to (something specified in the first part of the word), their precise significance is not the same, and different endings are usually not interchangeable.

• Words ending '-phile' describe individuals with a love of or liking for whatever is specified in the first part of the word. Thus a bibliophile is a person who likes and/or collects books; a europhile - sometimes with an initial capital - is a person who likes or admires Europe, Europeans, or the European Union; and an oenophile (from Greek οἶνος, 'wine') is a person who likes and/or is a connoisseur of wine. Sometimes the ending '-phile' loses its final 'e' - we find, e.g., 'bibliophil' as well as 'bibliophile' - and the word for the bibliophile's fondness for books is 'bibliophilism' or bibliophily.

• Words ending '-philia' refer to a propensity or tendency towards, or (abnormal) love or liking for, whatever is specified in the first part of the word. Thus haemophilia (literally, a tendency to bleed) is the inherited disease in which the blood loses its normal capacity to clot so that even minor cuts can lead to fatal bleeding; necrophilia is a sexual attraction to, or sexual intercourse with, dead bodies; coprophilia is an abnormal interest in excrement; and paedophilia is a sexual attraction to children.

• Words ending '-philiac' refer to individuals with a propensity or tendency towards, or (abnormal) love or liking for, whatever is specified in the first part of the word. Thus the person suffering from haemophilia is a haemophiliac and the person suffering from necrophilia is a necrophiliac. Note, however, that the person who is sexually attracted to children is usually referred to as a paedophile. Words ending in '-philiac' may be used as adjectives as well as nouns.

• Words ending '-philous' and '-philic' are most commonly found in the life sciences: they form adjectives which describe organisms with a 'liking' for whatever is specified in the first part of the word, e.g., plants which 'like', and therefore grow on, trees ('dendrophilous') or bacteria which 'like', and therefore grow well in, blood ('haemophilic'). Similar words include: 'coprophilous' ('liking and therefore growing in or on dung'), 'hydrophilous' ('liking and therefore growing in, or pollinated by, water'), and 'photophilic' ('liking and therefore growing best in strong light'). Note that whereas adjectives ending in '-philic' are stressed on the second syllable from the end (e.g., 'haemoPHILic', IPA: /,hiːməʊ'fɪlɪk/), adjectives ending in '-philous' are stressed on the third syllable from the end (e.g., 'hydROphilous' IPA: /,haɪ'drɒfɪləs/).

• The ending '-phily' is used to form nouns from adjectives ending in '-philous' or '-philic'. Thus we have 'coprophily' and 'hydrophily'. There is also, rather differently, the word 'toxophily' (literally a love of the bow), an alternative, more formal, name for archery; and nouns ending in '-phily' can sometimes be old fashioned forms of words more commonly ending in '-philia'.

See also Compound words beginning 'philo-' ('phil-') or 'miso-' ('mis-').