- 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).
- indicating a tendency towards
- indicating an abnormal liking for
