philia

/ˈfɪ.li.ə/

//ˈfɪ.li.ə// noun

"philia" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“philia” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - friendship

Corpus desk

Index EN-philia · philia · English

philia · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for philia
PropertyValue
Headwordphilia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɪ.li.ə/
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “philia” in English

philiasits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

philia is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɪ.li.ə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

philia doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλία (philía). The correct English form is philia, spelled P-H-I-L-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    friendship
  2. 2
    liking
  3. 3
    a psychological disorder characterized by an irrational favorable disposition towards something

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλία (philía).

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "philia"?
"philia" is spelled P-H-I-L-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɪ.li.ə/.
What does "philia" mean?
As a noun, "philia" means: friendship
How do you pronounce "philia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "philia" is /ˈfɪ.li.ə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "philia"?
Borrowed from Ancient Greek φιλία (philía). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list