"horse-lover," 1852, from hippo- "horse" + -phile "one that loves."
Entries linking to hippophile
hippo-
before vowels, hipp-, word-forming element meaning "horse," from Greek hippo-, from hippos "horse," from PIE root *ekwo- "horse."
-phile
also -phil, word-forming element meaning "one that loves, likes, or is attracted to," via French -phile and Medieval Latin -philus in this sense, from Greek -philos, common suffix in personal names (such as Theophilos), from philos "loving, friendly, dear; related, own," related to philein "to love," which is of unknown origin. According to Beekes, the original meaning was "own, accompanying" rather than "beloved."