Dictionary.com Word Of The Day
MARCH 20, 2017
anthophilousadjective [an-THOF-uh-luh s]
1. attracted by or living among flowers.
2. feeding on flowers, as certain insects. Also, anthophagous.
MORE FROM DICTIONARY.COM WEIRD WORDS
12 insults we should bring back
leave people speechless with these brilliant comebacks. WAYS TO SAY
The Saddest Words
The 10 saddest words and phrases in English WORD FACTS
Try to avoid these words!
6 words that can ruin your sentenceQUOTESFor you: anthophilous, lover
of flowers, / green roses, chrysanthemums, lilies; retrophilia /
philocaly, philomath, sarcophilous--all this love, / of the past, of
beautify, of knowledge, of flesh ...
-- Reginald Dwayne Betts, "For you: anthophilous, lover of flowers,"
Poetry, September 2011 ORIGINThe first half of anthophilous comes from
the Greek noun ánthos flower, which is related to Sanskrit ándha-
the soma plant (still unidentified). The element -philcomes from
Greek phílos friend, friendly, dear. It also means ones own, own
and for that reason may be a loan word into Greek from Lydian (an
Anatolian language spoken in the ancient kingdom of Lydia, in modern
western Turkey, whose last king was Croesus) bilis his. The Greek and
Lydian words come from the Proto-Indo-European root bhilo-, bhili-
harmonious, suitable, friendly.Anthophilous entered English in the
19th century.
