Φιλώ (phiLO) is an ancient Greek verb, which means I love. There are so many English words that begin with the Greek verb φιλώ, philo- and that also have a Greek second compound, like Philadelphia, philanthropist, philology, philhellene etc. We believe you can enrich your Greek vocabulary just by bringing to your attention these Greek words you already know.
ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ
Philanthropist is the person who loves and cares about humans in need. The second compound is the Greek word for the human, άνθρωπος (philo+ anthropos).
ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ
Hellene is the transliteration in English of the word ο Έλληνας, the Greek. Philhellene is α person, who, though not Greek, loves the Greek people, the Greek nation, and its achievements, and Greek culture.
ΑΡΜΟΝΙΑ
The word harmony is the Greek αρμονία. Philharmonic means he who loves the harmony.
ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΣ
The name Philip is a compound one from the words philo+ippos. Φιλώ + ίππος. Ίππος is horse in ancient Greek. Philip is a name that means the person who loves horses.
ΛΟΓΟΣ
Λόγος in ancient Greek means both speech (oral and written) and logic. It is interesting that in ancient Greek thought, speaking and rational thinking were closely connected. English words that end in -logy mean talking about something in a rational way, using the scientific method; they usually refer to names of scientific disciplines. Philology (philo+logy) is the love of the oral and written λόγος.
ΣΟΦΙΑ
Philosophy (philo+Sophia) is the love of wisdom. Η σοφία is the wisdom and a name as well.
ΤΕΛΟΣ
Τέλος means the end and the tax as well. It also means the stamp on the envelope, which is actually the tax, the money we pay to the state to send the letter by mail. The philatelist is the person who loves collecting the stamps.
ΑΔΕΛΦΙΑ
Philadelphia is the name of a U.S. city. The word is Greek and it is compound from Philo+adelphia. Τα αδέλφια are the siblings. Philadelphus is the person who loves his siblings.
ENGLISH WORDS FROM PHILO-
English word Greek word Pronunciation
Philadelphus φιλάδελφος phiLAdelphos
Philanthropic φιλανθρωπικός philanthropiKOS
Philanthropical φιλανθρωπικός philanthropiKOS
Philanthropist φιλάνθρωπος phiLAnthropos
Philanthropy η φιλανθρωπία EE philanthroPEEa
Philatelic φιλοτελικός philoteliKOS
Philatelist φιλοτελιστής philoteliSTEES
Philately ο φιλοτελισμός O philoteliZMOS
Philharmonic φιλαρμονικός philarmoniKOS
Philhellene ο φιλέλλην O phiLElin
Philhellenic φιλελληνικός philelliniKOS
Philhellenism ο φιλελληνισμός philelliniZMOS
Phillip Φίλιππος PHEElipos
Philologic φιλολογικός philologiKOS
Philological φιλολογικός philologiKOS
Philologist ο φιλόλογος O phiLOlogos
Philology η φιλολογία EE philoloYEEa
Philosopher ο φιλόσοφος O phiLOsophos
Philosophic φιλοσοφικός philosophiKOS
Philosophical φιλοσοφικός philosophiKOS
Philosophize φιλοσοφώ philosoPHO
Philosophy η φιλοσοφία EE philosoPHEEa
VOCABULARY
Below are the Greek words you already know from English compound words with philo-.
Greek word Pronunciation Meaning
ο αδελφός O adeLFOS the brother
τα αδέλφια TA aDElfia the siblings
ο άνθρωπος O Anthropos the man
ο Έλληνας O Elinas the Greek
το τέλος TO TElos the end, the tax
η αρμονία EE armoNEEa the harmony
ο ίππος O EEpos the horse
ο λόγος O LOyos the reason, the speech
η σοφία EE soFEEa the wisdom
η Σοφία EE soFEEa Sofia
ο σοφός O soFOS the wise (male)
η σοφή EE soFEE the wise (female)
EXERCISE
By using two verbs είναι=is (EEne) and έχει=has (Ehi) we have built sentences with the above vocabulary. Can you translate them?
Ο Σωκράτης είναι φιλόσοφος.
Ο παππούς μου είναι σοφός.
Η γιαγιά μου είναι σοφή.
Η Σοφία είναι φίλη μου.
Ο Έλληνας είναι φιλάνθρωπος.
Οι Αμερικάνοι είναι φιλέλληνες.
Έχω δύο αδέλφια.
Είναι το τέλος;
Ο λόγος του έχει αρμονία.
PRONUNCIATION KEY
i (idiom), ee (needle), e (energy), o (organism), oo (boot), y (yes), h (helium), th (theory), d (the). The capitalized syllables are accented.
The post Our Everyday Greek: Greek You Already Know: So Many English Words from Philo- appeared first on The National Herald.