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The Greek prefixes phobia and philia are commonly used in many words, such as 'gynephilia' and 'androphilia'. Why is 'miso' (from the Greek μῖσος) primarily used as a prefix in words such as 'misogyny' and 'misogamy'? From an etymological standpoint, would it make sense to use 'gynemisia' instead of 'misogyny'?

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    You might find these other question relevant: one & two. – cmw Dec 16 '23 at 15:42
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    This doesn't quite answer the question, but it's worth noting that this formation is also common in Greek. See, for instance (with a bunch of false positives), this list of Greek verbs beginning with miso-. (You can find a similar list for philo-.) It's still an interesting question, but I don't think the problem has to do with etymology from Greek. – brianpck Dec 16 '23 at 15:49
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    Note also philosophy (and philology etc) rather than **sophophilia. – Draconis Dec 16 '23 at 16:56
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    If you imagined the verb formed before the noun, however, as in φιλοσοφεῖν > φιλοσοφία, φιλαδελφεῖν > φιλαδελφία, φιλομανθάνειν > φιλομάθεια...? Just a thought, perhaps to tack onto the question... – Cosmas Zachos Dec 18 '23 at 17:33
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    In Greek, a compound noun/adjective formed by a verb and its object sometimes has the verb part in the front. (Almost) all nouns with -phobia and -philia are post-Greek, and therefore do not follow the pattern. – Kotoba Trily Ngian Dec 24 '23 at 08:05
  • Why do we call him Phillip, and not Hippophile? – dbmag9 Feb 26 '24 at 18:04

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