phobia [L18th] This is an independent usage of the suffix -phobia (via Latin from Greek) meaning ‘fear’. In modern times psychologists have ransacked the Greek and Latin languages to find ever more words to combine with phobia as new fears have been uncovered. These include brontophobia [E20th], ‘fear of thunder’ formed from Greek bronte ‘thunder’ also found in brontosaurus [L19th] literally ‘thunder lizard’ and heliophobia [L19th] formed from helios Greek for ‘sun’, also found in heliotrope [OE] for a plant that turns its flowers to follow the sun.