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People who like/admire English or French (the languages and/or the people and their culture) are easily identified as Anglophiles or Francophiles.

I'm not sure there are so many Germanophiles, but that might be because they're diluted by the presence of Teutophiles.

My problem is on the (not ridiculously rare) occasions when I want to express positive feeling towards American people (or their linguistic peculiarities), I don't have a similar word.

Am I missing something obvious? Or is there a little-known term?

phenry
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FumbleFingers
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    Speaking for my people, we know and relish in the fact that we're universally despised the world around. I'm sure that Steven Colbert would be happy to supply a word for this, though. Cute thread on this subject here. But, Americaphile does come up with positive hits on Google. – David M Mar 03 '14 at 18:31
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    Everybody loves us Americans, so there's no need for a special word. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 18:37
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    We don't need a phony Greek word for it, in any case. – John Lawler Mar 03 '14 at 18:37
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    A word for someone who likes their language would be an Anglophile, as for their culture... a nihilist maybe? (@terdon, the question is asking for it, no?) – oerkelens Mar 03 '14 at 18:42
  • @FumbleFingers What about "Columbophile"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_(name) – Elian Mar 03 '14 at 18:45
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    Americana is already a word, connoting fondness; I suggest Americanaphile, with a hopefully preemptive eyeroll to those who grumble America is a continent, not a country. – anongoodnurse Mar 03 '14 at 18:45
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    @Susan Great suggestion! And, to all those who say America is a continent, I reply: North America is a continent, as is South America. – David M Mar 03 '14 at 18:47
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    @Susan Well, you might need different words for those who are fond of the US, and for those who love the whole continent, maybe? – oerkelens Mar 03 '14 at 18:47
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    @DavidM "Columbophile" would make a lot of sense if it wasn't used already to designate the fans of Lt. Columbo. – Elian Mar 03 '14 at 18:56
  • @NourishedGourmet Wasn't that your suggestion??? – David M Mar 03 '14 at 19:08
  • @oerkelens - Aye; I propose Noramericanaphile, as opposed to the (likely to be suggested by pundits Boreamericanaphile) – anongoodnurse Mar 03 '14 at 19:09
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    @Susan my wife has orderd me to says that I prefer Boreamericanaphile, with the southern version being Notiamericanaphile. – oerkelens Mar 03 '14 at 19:13
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    @Susan that means you love Canadians, Americans and Mexicans :) – terdon Mar 03 '14 at 19:21
  • @oerkelens - I thought of Meridiamericanaphile, but that really makes South America dizzy. I go with your wife's suggestion! – anongoodnurse Mar 03 '14 at 19:29
  • There is probably no such word, aside from some obscure coined word that surfaces about as often as the Loch Ness Monster. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 22:08
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    @Oldcat: I can't post a link to it unless you have a subscription, but OED has Americanophile n. A person who loves or admires the United States or its culture. adj. Characterized by love of or admiration [for the same]. – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '14 at 22:17
  • Never heard of it before today. – Oldcat Mar 04 '14 at 00:31
  • @Oldcat: Maybe David's first comment is right (nobody loves Americans; a word with no referent wouldn't exist). Or maybe yours (everybody loves Americans, so it would be redundant anyway). Although I don't recall ever hearing Americanophile myself, it occurred to me as a possibility. Which I partly dismissed because at the time I sorta thought even if it was an established term, it would mean anyone (American?) who likes turntables in pink cadillacs, soda pops in drugstores, and all the rest of 50s kitsch US consumerism (being what I thought Americana meant until I looked it up later). – FumbleFingers Mar 04 '14 at 02:16
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    Ladies and gentlemen—may I please remind you that [chat] is a wonderful place for banter, and while an occasional joke here and there in comments is fine, there is a point where it does get excessive. – waiwai933 Mar 04 '14 at 17:47

4 Answers4

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Americophile (plural Americophiles)

  1. a lover of the United States and/or their way of life

Admittedly it's only Wiktionary, but Americophile follows the general rule for constructing such words (i.e., Latinish/Greekish-sounding root ending in "o" + "phile"), produces about 9000 results on Google, and has a reasonably pleasant ring to it. If we're voting on the question, Americophile gets mine.

(The word for people who have a love/hate attitude toward the United States is, of course, "people.")

Community
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phenry
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    Interestingly, Americanophile yields more search results, but has no entry; Ameriphile has some advocates as well. Why do we pursue the classical roots? Would not a Yank-lover by any other name talk just as loudly in restaurants? :) – choster Mar 03 '14 at 19:36
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    Tsk Tsk the way many of you Brits get tweaked by being called English you should be sensitive to the non-Yankee Americans out there. Like the Red Sox. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 19:41
  • @choster: I didn't want to mention it in the original question in case it distorted responses, but Americanophile was the best I could come up with before asking. It's interesting that your comment and terdon's as-yet-ignored answer are currently the only two occurences of the word on a page that's already caused far more comment than anything I've ever posted in over 3 years on ELU. The word Americana (things American) is commonplace, but Americanaphile just looks "weird" - why does no-one seem to care for Americanophile? – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '14 at 21:22
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    Americanophile would seem to be someone who loves American people rather than its culture and country. We use Anglo- not Englander- to make the English '-phile' word. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 22:11
  • Having now checked OED, I find Americophile isn't there. The closest match (under the general heading of the combining prefix Americo-) is Americomania: noun, now rare; an excessive fondness or craze for everything American. And Google Books has far more Americanophiles than Americophiles (in singular as well as plural), so I think these votes are wishful thinking from Americans who would like to be liked by more Americophiles. They should just be grateful at least all those Americanophiles love them (and watch out for those sick weirdo Americomaniacs! :) – FumbleFingers Mar 04 '14 at 02:32
  • ...btw - it's true Google Internet returns over 9,000 hits for Americophile. But it returns 23,000 hits for Americanophile. Case closed. – FumbleFingers Mar 04 '14 at 02:34
11

Can't find a dictionary word but these neologisms should all be understandable:

  • Philamerican, á la philhellene.

  • Americanophile, while this does not seem to have a dictionary entry, it does appear in print a few times.

FumbleFingers
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terdon
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    Philamerican sounds like a contraction of Philadephian-American. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 18:38
  • @Oldcat I think it is even used that way but that is not the only way to parse it and not the way I would have understood it despite my Dad being from Philadelphia. And anyway, Philadlephian American seems ridiculous, what's wrong with Philadelphian? – terdon Mar 03 '14 at 18:40
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    You'll have to ask their neighbors for the answer to that last question. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 18:42
  • Philamerican sounds like someone who is a lover-American. And, as a native New Yorker (transplanted to Connecticut)- Philly sucks! – David M Mar 03 '14 at 18:42
  • @DavidM a philhellene is someone who loves the Greek culture, it was a relatively common word especially in the early 19th century, during the Greek revolution. – terdon Mar 03 '14 at 18:57
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    Indeed the phil- prefix is not so strange: philosophy, philanthropy, philandering, philing stystem – oerkelens Mar 03 '14 at 19:00
  • @oerkelens and indeed Philadelphia, brotherly love. – terdon Mar 03 '14 at 19:01
  • I don't dispute its correctness. It just sounds like a type of American when you put it in front. Afroamerican (outmoded, but used). – David M Mar 03 '14 at 19:05
  • @terdon: I didn't want to search Google Books or dictionaries before asking, because although Americanophile was my best guess, I thought I'd look like a right ninny if there was some much better term that I simply didn't know or hadn't thought of. Now I have looked, so you can have your first upvote courtesy of me. It's in OED! And Google Books claims 1230 instances of it. I'm amazed that despite all the activity on this page I will be the first to upvote this answer!. – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '14 at 21:30
  • ...in fact, cut the crap. I'm going to *accept* this answer. (Not for the truly dismal Philamerican though! I think you should quietly edit that out! :) – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '14 at 21:32
  • I know several pleasant American fellows named Phil. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 22:09
  • @FumbleFingers can't, it's in the public domain now. I might never live it down. Thanks for the accept though, it kinda takes the sting off ;). – terdon Mar 03 '14 at 23:14
  • Philamerican sounds like something I would put on my sandwich, I'm from belgium. – Willem D'Haeseleer Mar 04 '14 at 14:12
  • I like Philamerican; it immediately makes me think of a Philharmonic Symphony. – Joshua Taylor Mar 04 '14 at 21:01
  • @terdon: Since the question continues to attract interest, I've taken the liberty of "bolding" the specific word in your answer that I'm accepting. Feel free to revert the edit if you'd rather I hadn't done that (and please don't feel you'd be under any pressure from me to justify yourself in that case). – FumbleFingers Mar 06 '14 at 16:12
  • @FumbleFingers of course I don't mind. – terdon Mar 06 '14 at 16:46
  • I just gave this answer +1 specifically for the 'philamerican' option, before reading the comments :D It seems like the better choice to me because somehow 'americanophile' sounds awkward and clunky, even though it only has one extra syllable. – Quack E. Duck Jul 03 '23 at 16:38
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I suspect that since there is apparently no dictionary entry for the word you're asking for, the very concept is nonexistent, or, a fable.

The best you will probably find is something that could originate from Mao's Little Red Book:

"Running dog of the Imperialist US Lackeys"

I'm sure Stephen Colbert would heartily concur.

Edited to add:

@FumbleFingers has suggested that this answer seems more like a flippant comment than a real answer, and indeed he may have a point. But I do recognize that the question was asked in all seriousness, and my actual serious answer is contained in my first sentence. In other words, despite the proposed candidates, such as Americanophile, there really is no such word.

The remainder of my original answer above was editorial comment. I've been around the block, and lived in a number of countries, and I have loved them all. Having lived in all three countries for years, I am an Anglophile a Germanophile, and a Canadophile. From this residence experience I recognize that there is a certain degree of awe or even fear of the United States, as the foremost economic and military power of the past century -- although this is expressed more often as affected disdain. What far too few seem to recognize, however, is that the modern power of the US is rooted in its diversity, and expressed in its union. "E Pluribus Unun" = "Out of Many, One". To be Americanophile is to combine Anglophile, Germanophile, Hindiphile, Latinophile, Francophile, Sinophile, Russophile, Italophile, Poliphile, Afrophile, and many more. In short, the United States is in effect The World Country. There is no country nor culture not represented here, and the larger the diversity the stronger we are -- as long as we are united. May that ever be so.

But that won't stop the Colberts and the other self-loathers from putting down what should be admired and even loved, even by those outside the US.

I apologize if this seems excessively patriotic. This isn't my intent. My intent is to show that if there is any greatness in the United States, it is great because it is the World united in one.

Hence there cannot be a genuine word such as Americanophile.

PS: Yes, I know that the original intent of "E Pluribus Unum" was "out of many states, one country", but I submit that we've evolved well past that original meaning.

Cyberherbalist
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  • +1, as much as I hate to admit it, I think you may well be right. – anongoodnurse Mar 03 '14 at 18:52
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    Despite my joke comment above, I would be very surprised if there's no such word. One should have popped up at least during the USA craze of the early century. The whole American dream thing was a very popular idea in Europe and, as I'm sure you know, resulted in most of our ancestors taking a boat over. Wouldn't there have been a word for them? On the European side I mean, not limey or wop or similar words that were developed on the other side of the pond. – terdon Mar 03 '14 at 18:55
  • I hope that most of those reading my answer will recognize that I am being ironically sarcastic, not serious. I don't think there's such a word, but as an American who is proud of his nation and its positive achievements (not ignoring its imperfections), I recognize that there's a lot of sour grapes out there. – Cyberherbalist Mar 03 '14 at 19:03
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    And everyone loves puppies! And America! – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 19:11
  • @terdon - in the days of immigration, many of those who felt that way came over and just became Americans themselves. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 19:12
  • @terdon - pilgrims, protestants, Northwest Passage hunters, patrooners, pirates, fortune hunters, etc. – anongoodnurse Mar 03 '14 at 19:17
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    @Oldcat yes, of course. The crushing majority of today's Americans (with the sole and dwindling exception of Native Americans) are the children of immigrants, obviously. A fact that is conveniently overlooked by the xenophobic voices in the country. Nevertheless, before coming to the states, these people were not Americans and may well have had a word to describe them. Since so many came from the British Isles, I would also expect a word in the English language top describe them. – terdon Mar 03 '14 at 19:17
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    Usually these terms are used culturally, rather than nationally. So a Francophile likes restaurants and plays and clothing designs rather than a love for the French government. US has always been considered culturally impoverished by culture-snobs, both here and overseas, even while it takes over their theaters and television stations. – Oldcat Mar 03 '14 at 19:25
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    You must answer as you see fit, of course. But the question was asked in all seriousness, and this seems to be a flippant "comment" rather than an "answer". – FumbleFingers Mar 03 '14 at 21:37
  • @Cyberherbalist: I'm mindful of waiwai933's comment to the actual question, but I will just say that whereas I think your first sentence is totally untenable, as you've specifically edited to clarify that this is in effect your answer, I will retract my downvote. As a Brit, obviously my knee-jerk reaction to US/UK language differences is favour cisatlantic usages (from my perspective, obviously; you will favor your cisatlantic versions! :). But sometimes I feel differently, and sometimes I might wish to express that. – FumbleFingers Mar 04 '14 at 21:56
  • @terdon, there is no "dwindling" of the Native Americans in the US. Besides fullbloods, there are quite a number of Americans who bear Native blood. I am among them. And according to the 2010 US Census there are %-wise more Indians in the US than there were in 1890. 0.9% now vs 0.4% then, or 2,853,000 vs 248,253. Not dwindling at all. – Cyberherbalist Apr 17 '14 at 21:39
  • @Cyberherbalist, I stand corrected. I was thinking of fullbloods who, presumably, are dwindling as fullblood anything tends to dwindle (as a half-breed myself, I consider this a good thing) but as you point out that's a silly way of looking at it. Anyway, those are encouraging stats and I'm very pleased to read them, thanks. – terdon Apr 17 '14 at 23:09
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Let's unpack this concept for a bit - why do words exist for some cultures (Anglophile, Francophile, Germanophile; I've also seen Russophile and Japanophile) but not others (Españaphile? Belgiphile?)? I submit for your consideration that these terms do not exist merely to describe admiration of the cultures in question, but an arrogant admiration: a belief that a particular nation is objectively superior, and that this objective superiority is also either transferred to the holder of such a belief, or evident by the fact that he holds it.

In other words, it's as much as question of snobbery as anything else - the American upper class has traditionally been Anglophile, the British upper class traditionally Francophile, much of the Continental upper class Germanophile, university leftists in the 60s Russophile, and so forth. In that sense snobbery is not really reconcilable with the American populist streak or the popular stereotypes and conceptions about Americans and American culture. There are certainly snobby people who love America, and snobby approaches to things like trends in America, but that tends to be incidental to the person's snobbishness rather than a defining feature.

We are, however, smug as hell.

user2310967less
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    People who like the Spanish (or alternatively, all Spanish-speaking countries) are Hispanophiles. I'm not sure Belgians natively speaking Dutch, French or German, and culturally Flemish or Walloon, really have a comparably recognisable language or culture. I'm an "Escherite" myself, but that's about as far as it goes. – FumbleFingers Mar 04 '14 at 13:17
  • @FumbleFingers That there's no accepted and unambiguous definition for Hispanophile (I've never encountered the term before today) suggests to me that the concept is not a very strong one. As to Belgium, surely you jest - there are distinctly Belgian trends and tastes in comics, dance music, beer, and food (among numerous other things) that transcend the Flemish-Walloon divide and are not really shared with Belgium's neighbors. – user2310967less Mar 06 '14 at 12:39
  • Even if there were none at the formation of the country in the early 1800s, the many years since would have added some shared experience. It has been together longer than Germany has. – Oldcat Mar 06 '14 at 17:11