φίλος
Alt. φίλος, η, ον
Etym. ι short: but voc. φίλε with ι_ in Hom.
I. pass. "loved, beloved, dear", Lat. amicus, carus, Hom., etc.; c. dat. "dear" to one, id=Hom.; voc. φίλε may be used with neut. nouns, φίλε τέκνον Od.; a gen. was sometimes added to the voc., φίλ᾽ ἀνδρῶν Theocr.; ὦ φίλα γυναικῶν Eur.:—often as Subst., φίλος, "a friend", Hom.:—proverb., ἔστιν ὁ φ. ἄλλος αὐτός "a friend" is another self, Arist.; κοινὰ τὰ τῶν φίλων Plat.:—so in fem. φίλη, "a dear one, friend", Lat. amica, Hom., attic:— φίλον, ου, "an object of love", Soph.; τὰ φίλτατα "one's nearest and dearest", such as wife and children, Trag.
2. of things, "dear, pleasant, welcome", Hom.:—as predic., φίλον ἐστί or γίγνεταί μοι 'tis "dear" to me, "pleases" me, Lat. cordi est, id=Hom., Hdt., etc.; εἰ τόδ᾽ αὐτῷ φίλον κεκλημένῳ if it "please" him to be so called, Aesch.
3. in Poets, φίλος is used of "one's own" limbs, life, etc., φίλον δ᾽ ἐξαίνυτο θυμόν he took away "dear" life, Il.; φίλον ἦτορ, φίλα γούνατα, πατὴρ φίλος, φίλη ἄλοχος Hom.; φίλην ἄγεσθαι to take as "his own" wife, Il.
II. in act. sense, like φίλιος, "loving, friendly", Hom.; c. gen., φίλαν ξένων ἄρουραν "friendly" to strangers, Pind.; φίλα φρονέειν τινί to feel "kindly", Il.; φ. ποιεῖσθαί τινι to make "friends" with one, Hdt.
III. adv. φίλως, φίλως χ᾽ ὁρόῳτε ye would "fain" see it, Il.; φ. ἐμοί "in a manner dear or pleasing" to me, Aesch.; φ. δέχεσθαί τινα Xen.
IV. φίλος has several forms of comparison:
1. comp. φιλίων [ι^], ον, Od.
2. comp. φίλτερος, Sup. φίλτατος, v. sub vocc.
3. comp. φιλαίτερος, Sup. φιλαίτατος, Xen., Theocr.
4. in attic μᾶλλον φίλος Aesch., etc.; Sup. μάλιστα φ. Xen.