-philic
Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
-philic
suff.
Variant of -philous.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
-philic
or -philous
a combining form occurring in adjectives that characterize classes of organisms having an affinity for or thriving in a given substance or environment (acidophilic; thermophilic); used also to form adjectives corresponding to nouns ending in -phile (Anglophilic).
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.