Lithophiles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who has a strong affinity for stones and minerals, often collecting or studying them as a hobby
2. A mineral enthusiast who appreciates the beauty and variety of geological specimens
3. Someone deeply interested in the classification and characteristics of rock formations and their natural occurrences

Etymology: "Lithophiles" is the plural of "lithophile," and the word is built from two Greek elements. The first, "litho-," comes from Greek "lithos," meaning stone, and the second, "-phile," comes from Greek "philos," meaning loving or fond of. Put together, the base sense is something like "stone-lover." In geology, the term has a specialised technical sense: a lithophile element is one that tends to combine with oxygen and silicates and so concentrates in the rocky outer layers of the Earth rather than sinking into the metallic core. The same root-and-suffix pattern appears in related scientific terms, such as "siderophile," meaning iron-loving. A lithophile is thus a stone-loving element before it is anything else.

Synonyms: rock-loving organisms, stone dwellers, lithobionts