Thermophilia

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A preference or attraction for high temperatures; the condition of thriving or living comfortably in hot environments; the characteristic of organisms or individuals favoring warmth
2. The tendency to seek or tolerate elevated heat; a biological trait enabling survival in warm habitats; the inclination toward heat-loving behavior or conditions
3. An affinity for warm surroundings; an adaptive state for life in high-temperature settings; the behavior or quality of favoring thermal warmth for optimal function

Etymology: Thermophilia is a plain compound built from two Greek elements: "thermos," meaning hot, and "philia," meaning love or fondness for something. The second element is the same one that appears in "bibliophilia" and "hemophilia" in its modern scientific use, where it denotes an affinity for or attraction to a particular thing. Combined, the pieces describe a fondness for heat, and the word follows the familiar pattern of nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientific coinages that pair Greek roots to name a condition or tendency. The "thermo-" element is the more productive of the two in modern English. It appears in "thermometer," "thermostat," and "thermodynamics," all of which use the Greek word for heat as a building block. Because "thermo-" is so familiar, the formation of "thermophilia" is transparent to most readers: a "-philia" suffix attached to a heat-related root produces a term for the love of warmth.

Synonyms: heat-loving, thermophilous

Antonyms: psychrophilia, cold-loving