September 24, 1997

logophile

Don't know if you have already covered this one, but I ran into a word "logophile" that I couldn't find in my dictionary. Roger Zelazny seems to have a penchant for finding these (same story had "tapetum" and "callipygian"--useful words, wot?).

Logophile is one of the many words, and probably the most common, referring to people who love words. It tends not to get included in dictionaries because it's not terribly common in the mainstream, even though dictionary people, most of whom are themselves logophiles, run into it more often than most.

The word logophile is formed from logo-, a combining form meaning 'word', from Greek lógos 'word', and -phile, a suffix meaning 'lover of; enthusiast for (something specified)', from Latin from Greek -philos 'beloved'. The earliest example I know of in English is from the late 1950s, but the French equivalent logophile is found in 1890.

Some other useful words to keep in mind are verbivore, or 'eater of words', a favorite of the language writer Richard Lederer; verbiphage, or 'devourer of words', which I once suggested to Lederer in response; logolept 'a word maniac'; logomisia 'a disgust for certain words' (useful one, this); and logogogue 'a self-styled word expert'.

Before anyone asks, we've already discussed callipygian. The word tapetum is a fancy biological term with an incomprehensible definition which I'll simplify for you by just saying that it's the shiny bit wot's at the back of a cat's eyes.