zoophilyhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoophily_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezoophily, n.
Revised 2017

zoophilynoun

  1. 1.
    1830–
    Emotional attachment to, or love of, animals; opposition to cruelty to animals. Also occasionally: sexual attraction to, or activity with, animals. Now chiefly historical and somewhat rare.
    1. 1830
      It is gratifying to meet with the following traits of zoophily in the character of one of our great national saints.
      W. H. Drummond, Humanity to Animals 47
    2. 1889
      Old cats and dogs..are kept alive through a somewhat misguided philanthropy or rather zoophily.
      British Medical Journal 3 August 256/1
    3. 1903
      The extremer advocates of Zoophily.
      Month August 214
    4. 1976
      In 1930 a law removed adultery, homosexuality, and zoophily from the [Danish] Penal Code.
      Journal of Communication vol. 26 40
    5. 2011
      Zoophily can shade into misanthropy.
      S. Pinker, Better Angels of our Nature vii. 461
  2. 2.
    1904–
    Ecology. Pollination by animals. Also: spec. pollination by vertebrate animals as distinct from insects. Cf. zoophilous adj. 1.
    1. 1904
      Zoophily, or pollination by animals other than insects, seems to occur in a number of plants.
      J. C. Willis, Manual & Dictionary Flowering Plants & Ferns (ed. 2) 99
    2. 1921
      The flowers show considerable adaptation to zoophily.
      Journal of Botany, Brit. & Foreign vol. 59 345
    3. 1967
      Pollination is brought about by three main agents: wind, animals and water, the types being called respectively anemophily, zoophily and hydrophily.
      B. G. M. Jamieson & J. F. Reynols, Tropical Plant Types xii. 225
    4. 2010
      Vertebrate pollination (zoophily) is primarily accomplished by hummingbirds and bats.
      E. C. Evans & C. A. Butler, Why do Bees Buzz? vi. 100
  3. 3.
    1928–
    Biology. The tendency of a parasitic organism (esp. a mosquito) to prefer feeding or living on animals rather than humans; the state of being zoophilic (zoophilic adj. 3). Cf. zoophilous adj. 2.
    1. 1928
      The author first reviews earlier studies of the subject of zoophily in Anopheles.
      Exper. Station Rec. (U.S. Department of Agriculture) vol. 58 262
    2. 1938
      There are thus among different species of mosquitoes degrees of zoophily and anthrophily.
      Journal of Parasitology vol. 24 93
    3. 1983
      For simplicity in this discussion we have ignored the effect of zoophily, multiple feeding and the possibility that some individual flies may extend the duration of the gonotrophic cycle long enough to be infective after one cycle.
      Journal Applied Ecology vol. 20 510
    4. 2002
      The high degree of zoophily coupled with the mostly outdoor feeding behavior during the summer, makes the likelihood for local malaria transmission by A [nopheles] messeae remote.
      Ambio vol. 31 218/1

Originally published as part of the entry for zoophile, n.

zoophily, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoophily, n. was last modified in July 2023.