I. pass., beloved, dear, Il.1.20, etc.; “παῖδε φίλω” 7.279; freq. c. dat., dear to one, “μάλα οἱ φ. ἦεν” 1.381; “φ. ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι” 20.347, etc.: voc., φίλε κασίγνητε (at the beginning of the line) 4.155, 5.359; with neut. nouns, “φίλε τέκνον” Od.2.363, 3.184, etc.; but “φίλον τέκος” Il.3.162; also φίλος for φίλε (Att., acc. to A.D.Synt.213.28), “φίλος ὦ Μενέλαε” Il.4.189, cf. 9.601, 21.106, al., Pi.N.3.76, A.Pr.545 (lyr.), E.Supp.277 (lyr.), Ar.Nu.1168(lyr.): gen. added to the voc., “φίλ᾽ ἀνδρῶν” Theoc. 15.74, 24.40; “ὦ φίλα γυναικῶν” E.Alc.460 (lyr.): as Subst.:
a. φίλος, ὁ, friend, κουρίδιος φίλος, i.e. husband, Od.15.22; φίλοι friends, kith and kin, “νόσφιφίλων” Il.14.256; “τῆλεφίλων” Od.2.333, cf.6.287; φ. μέγιστος my greatest friend, S.Aj.1331; φίλοι οἱ ἐγγυτάτω, οἱ ἔγγιστα, Lys. 1.41 codd., Plb.9.24.2; after Hom. freq. with a gen., “ὁ Διὸς φίλος” A.Pr.306; τοὺς ἐμαυτοῦ φ., τοὺς τούτων φ., Aeschin.1.47; “φ. ἐμός” S.Ph.421; τῶν ἐμε̂ν φ. ib.509; “τοὺς σφετέρους φ.” X.HG4.8.25: prov., ἔστιν ὁ φ. ἄλλος αὐτός a friend is another self, Arist.EN1166a31; “κοινὰ τὰ τῶν φ.” Pl.Phdr.279c, cf. Arist.EN1159b31; “οὐθεὶς φ. ᾧ πολλοὶ φ.” Id.EE1245b20; also of friends or allies, opp. πολέμιοι, X.HG 6.5.48; “φ. καὶ σύμμαχος” D.9.12, etc.; of a lover, X.Mem.3.11.4 (in bad sense, Lac.2.13); φίλε my friend, as a form of courteous address, Ev.Luc.14.10, etc.; in relation to things, “οἱ μουσικῆς φ.” E.Fr.580.3; “ἀληθείας” Pl.R.487a; “τῶν εἰδῶν” Id.Sph.248a; “Χίους φ. ποιῆσαι” Lys. 14.36, etc.; “ποιεῖσθαι” Luc.Pisc.38; “κτᾶσθαι” Isoc.2.27, cf. Th.2.40; “φίλους τιθέντες τούς γε πολεμιωτάτους” E.Hec.848; “φίλῳ χρῆσθαί τινι” Antipho 5.63; “ἡμᾶς ἔχειν φίλους” And.1.40; for Hdt.3.49, v. φίλιος.
b. φίλη, ἡ, dear one, friend, “κλῦτε, φίλαι” Od.4.722; “λόγοις ἐγὼ φιλοῦσαν οὐ στέργω φίλην” S.Ant.543; of a wife, φίλην τινὰ ἄγεσθαι take as one's wife, Il.9.146,288; ἡ Ξέρξου φ., of his mother, A.Pers.832; of a mistress, X.Mem.2.1.23, 3.11.16; “φίλην ποιήσασθαί τινα” Antipho 1.14.
c. φίλον, τό, an object of love, τὸ φ. σέβεσθαι to reverence what the city loves, S.OC187 (lyr.): addressed to persons, darling, “φ. ἐμόν” Ar.Ec.952 (lyr.); so φίλτατον ib. 970; τὰ φίλτατα one's nearest and dearest, dear ones, such as wife and children, A.Pers.851, Eu.216, S.OT366, OC1110, E.Med.16: v. φίλτατος; τἀμὰ φίλα, τὰ σὰ φ., Id.Ion523 (troch.), 613.
d. οἱ πρῶτοι φίλοι, a title at the Ptolemaic court, OGI99.3, PTeb.11.4 (ii B. C.), etc.; or simply “οἱ φ. τοῦ βασιλέως” OGI100.1; or οἱ φ. alone, ib. 115.4; τῶν φ. και διοικητοῦ one of the king's friends and dioecetes, PTeb.79.56 (ii B. C.).
2. of things, pleasant, welcome, “δόσις ὀλίγη τε φ. τε” Od.6.208, cf. Il.1.167: c. dat. pers., “αἰεὶ γάρ τοι ἔρις τε φίλη” 5.891, cf. Od.8.248, 13.295; “οὐ φίλα τοι ἐρέω” Hdt.7.104; δαίμοσιν πράσσειν φίλα their pleasure, A.Pr.660, cf. infr. 11.
b. freq. as predic., φίλον ἐστί or γίγνεταί μοι pleases me, it is after my own heart, “εἴ πού τοι φίλον ἐστί” Od.7.320; μὴ φ. Διὶ πατρὶ γένοιτο ib. 316, cf. Il.7.387; “εἰ τόδε πᾶσι φ. καὶ ἡδὺ γένοιτο” 4.17; “καί τοι φ. ἔπλετο θυμῷ” Od.13.145, etc.; “τοῦτο μὲν ἴτω ὅπῃ τῷ θεῷ φίλον” Pl.Ap. 19a: less freq. c. inf., “οὐ μὲν Τυδέϊ γ᾽ ὧδε φίλον πτωσκαζέμεν” Il.4.372; “πεφιδέσθαι ἐνὶ φρεσὶ φίλτερον ἦεν Τρώων” 21.101, cf. 24.334, Od. 14.378; so “ταῦτα δαίμονί κοω φίλον ἦν οὕτω γενέσθαι” Hdt.1.87, cf. 108, 4.97: rarely c. part., εἰ τόδ᾽ αὐτῷ φιλον κεκλημένῳ if it please him to be so called, A.Ag.161 (lyr.): agreeing with pl., “αἰεί τοι τὰ κάκ᾽ ἐστὶ φίλα φρεσὶ μαντεύεσθαι” Il.1.107, cf. Od.17.15; “ἔνθα φίλ᾽ ὀπταλέα κρέα ἔδμεναι” Il.4.345; “σοὶ δ᾽ ἔργα φίλ᾽ ἔστω μέτρια κοσμεῖν” Hes.Op.306.
c. in Hom. and early Poets, one's own; freq. of limbs, life, etc., φίλον δ᾽ ἐξαίνυτο θυμόν he took away dear life, Il.5.155, cf. 22.58; “κατεπλήγη φίλον ἦτορ” 3.31; “εἰς ὅ κε . . μοι φίλα γούνατ᾽ ὀρώρῃ” 9.610; “φίλον κατὰ λαιμόν” 19.209; esp. of one's nearest kin, “πατὴρ φ.” 22.408, Sapph.Supp.20a.11; “ἄλοχος φ.” Il.5.480: cf. φίλτατος: as a standing epith. when no affection is implied, μητρὶ φίλῃ Ἀλθαίῃ χωόμενος κῆρ angry with his own mother, Il.9.555: simply to denote possession, “φίλα εἵματα” 2.261; φ. πόνος their wonted labour, Theoc.21.20.
II. less freq. (chiefly poet.) in act. sense, loving, friendly, Od.1.313, cf. Il.24.775: c. gen., φίλαν ξένων ἄρουραν friendly to strangers, Pi.N.5.8, cf. P.3.5: of things, kindly, pleasing, “φίλα φρεσὶ μήδεα εἰδώς” Il.17.325; φίλα φρονέειν τινί feel kindly, Il.4.219; “φ. ἐργάζεσθαί τινι” Od.24.210; “φ. εἰδέναι τινί” 3.277; φ. ποιέεσθαί τινι deal with one in friendly fashion, do one a pleasure, Hdt.2.152, 5.37.
III. Adv. φίλως, once in Hom., φίλως χ᾽ ὁρόῳτε ye would fain see it, Il.4.347, cf. Hes. Sc.45, A.Ag.247(lyr.), [1591], etc.; φ. ἐμοί in a manner dear or pleasing to me, ib. 1581.
2. in a friendly, kindly spirit, “τήνδε τὴν πόλιν φ. εἰπών” S.OC758; “φ. δέχεσθαί τινα” X.HG4.8.5, cf. Pl.Epin. 988c.
IV. φίλος has several forms of comparison:
