Rare words for Love and Attraction

Love and Attraction

While this list might seem a bit risqué judging from its title, it's not as bad (or good) as you might think. Each of these 114 weird words contains the word element "phil", from ancient Greek phileein to love, and so a 'philia' is a special love, affection, attraction or preference for a certain type of thing. From aerophilately - a pastime practiced by few - to zoophily - a pastime hopefully practiced by few, but unfortunately not - if you're a logophile, you'll love this list. Incidentally, since "zoophily" is regularly one of the Phrontistery's top keywords, a note to any aspiring zoophilists: There's nothing to see here! Get out! As for the rest of you, enjoy! To complement this list of philias, you may also find my list of manias to be of interest.

Word	Definition
aerophilately	collecting of air-mail stamps
ailurophilia	love of cats
ammophilous	sand-loving; preferring to dwell in sand
anemophilous	pollinated by wind
anglophilia	love or fondness for England or the English
anthophilous	loving or frequenting flowers
apodysophilia	feverish desire to undress
arctophily	study of teddy bears
astrophile	person interested in astronomy
audiophile	one who loves accurately reproduced recorded sound
belonephilia	sexual obsession with sharp objects
bibliophily	love or fondness for books or reading
canophilia	love or fondness for dogs
cartophily	the hobby of collecting cigarette cards
chasmophilous	fond of nooks, crevices and crannies
chiropterophilous	pollinated or frequented by bats
chromophilous	staining easily
chrysophilist	gold-lover
clinophilia	passion for beds
coprophilia	abnormal love or fondness for feces
cynophilist	one who loves dogs
dendrophilous	fond of trees
discophile	one who loves and studies sound recordings
electrophile	substance having an affinity for electrons or negative charge
entomophilous	adapted for pollination by insects
ergophile	one who loves work
Europhile	one who loves Europe
Francophile	one who loves France or the French
Gallophile	one who loves France or the French
geophilous	living in or near the ground
Germanophilia	love or fondness for Germany or the Germans
gerontophilia	sexual attraction towards the elderly
gynotikolobomassophile	one who nibbles on women’s earlobes
haemophilia	hereditary disease causing excesssive bleeding
halophilous	tolerant of salt or salt-water
heliophilous	preferring or attracted to the sunlight
hippophile	lover of horses
homophile	one who prefers the company of the same sex; a homosexual
hydrophilous	loving or preferring water
hygrophilous	preferring or living where there is an abundance of moisture
iconophilism	a taste for pictures and symbols
japanophilia	love or admiration for Japan or the Japanese
labeorphily	collection and study of beer bottle labels
limnophilous	living in ponds or marshes
lithophilous	living among stones
logophile	a lover of words
lygophilia	love of darkness
lyophile	easily dispersed in a suitable medium
malacophilous	pollinated by snails
myrmecophilous	having a symbiotic relationship with ants
necrophilia	unusual love or sexual attraction for corpses
negrophile	one who is sympathetic towards black people
nemophilist	one who loves the woods
neophile	one who loves novelty and trends
nitrophilous	flourishing in or preferring locations with abundant nitrogen
notaphily	collecting of bank-notes and cheques
oenophile	one who is fond of or loves wine
ombrophilous	tolerant of large amounts of rainfall
ophiophilist	snake-lover
ornithophilous	pollinated by birds
paedophilia	abnormal love or sexual attraction for children
palaeophile	antiquarian
paraphilia	any abnormal sexual attraction
peristerophily	pigeon-collecting
petrophilous	living on or thriving in rocky areas
philalethist	lover of truth
philately	study of postage stamps
philhippic	loving or admiring horses
phillumeny	collecting of matchbox labels
philocaly	love of beauty
philodemic	fond of commoners or the lower classes
philogyny	love of women
philomath	lover of learning
philonoist	one who seeks knowledge
philopornist	lover of prostitutes
philotechnical	devoted to the arts
philotherianism	love of animals
philoxenia	hospitality
photophilous	preferring or thriving in lighted conditions
phytophilous	fond of plants
pogonophile	one who loves beards
psammophile	sand-loving plant
psychrophilic	thriving in cold temperatures
retrophilia	love of things of the past
rheophile	living or thriving in running water
rhizophilous	growing or thriving on or near roots
Russophile	one who admires Russia or the Russians
sarcophilous	fond of flesh
sciophilous	thriving in or loving shady conditions
scopophilia	obtaining sexual pleasure from seeing things
Scotophilia	admiration for Scotland or the Scots
scripophily	collection of bond and share certificates
Sinophile	one who admires China or the Chinese
Slavophile	one who admires the Slavs
spermophile	member of family of seed-loving rodents
stegophilist	one who climbs buildings for sport
stigmatophilia	obsession with tattooing or branding
symphily	living together for mutual benefit
technophile	one who is fond of technology
thalassophilous	living in or fond of the sea
theophile	one who loves or is loved by God
thermophilous	preferring or thriving in high temperatures
timbrophily	love or fondness for stamps; stamp-collecting
tobaccophile	one who loves tobacco
topophilia	great love or affection for a particular place
toxophily	love of archery; archery; study of archery
tropophilous	flourishing in seasonal extremes of climate
turophile	cheese lover
typhlophile	one who is kind to the blind
xenophilia	love of foreigners
xerophily	adaptation to very dry conditions
xylophilous	fond of wood; living in or on wood
zoophilia	loving or caring for animals; bestiality
zoophily	loving or caring for animals; bestiality