-phile

/faɪ̯l/

suffix

Forming nouns and adjectives meaning "loving", "friendly", or "friend".

“Scott is such a bibliophile that he won't even put that book down.”

Opposite
-phobe
OriginAncient Greek φίλος (phílos) ← Proto-Indo-European *bʰil-o-s →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

suffix

alternative -phille · alternative -phil

  1. Forming nouns and adjectives meaning "loving", "friendly", or "friend".

    Scott is such a bibliophile that he won't even put that book down.

    Antonyms: -phobe

Synonyms & antonyms

suffixForming nouns and adjectives meaning "loving", "friendly", or "friend".

Opposite
-phobe
Also see
-philiac-philist-philite-philous

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰil-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰil-o-s
  3. Ancient Greekφίλος (phílos)
  4. English-phile

Learned borrowing from Latin -phila, from Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “dear, beloved”).

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian -фил
  • -фил (-fil)Forming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Catalan -fil
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Danish -fil
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Finnish -fiili
  • -fiiliForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
French -phile
  • -phileForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
German -phil
  • -philForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Greek -φιλος
  • -φιλος (-filos)Forming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Hungarian -fil, -barát
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
  • -barátForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
  • -kedvelőForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Italian -filo
  • -filoForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Norwegian Bokmål -fil
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Polish -fil
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Portuguese -filo
  • -filoForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Romanian -fil
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Spanish -filo
  • -filoForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Swedish -fil
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Turkish -fil
  • -filForming nouns and adjectives denoting "friend"
Cite this entry
APA

-phile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-phile

MLA

“-phile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-phile. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-phile,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-phile.

Source: -phile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.