Pronounced: LEECH-duhm, noun
Notes: Not at all what I thought it was
Yesterday’s word
The word biophilia is “a hypothetical human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature”
First usage
Our word came into English in the 1960s (but see comments below)
Background / Comments
Our word was coined by Erich Fromm who has a psychoanalyst; it came from the New Latin words bio- (life) and -philia (a friendly feeling toward). He used it to mean the biological drive toward self-preservation. It was in the 1970s that Edward O Wilson, an American biologist, modified the meaning of our word to “the rich, natural pleasure that comes from being surrounded by living organisms”.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 