J.K. Rowling is a master of using charactonyms, names that suggest a distinctive trait of a fictional character, throughout the Harry Potter series. Xenophilius Lovegood is the
eccentric father of Luna and the editor of the Quibbler, a publication filled with alternative takes on the events of the wizarding world.
The name Xenophilius comes from the Greek roots xeno- meaning foreign/strange, and -phil meaning love of. From this charactonym, we can assume Xenophilius is drawn to all manner of strange or unusual objects.
The first time we meet Xenophilius is at Bill and Fleur’s wedding when he arrives dressed in “a cap whose tassel dangled in front of his nose, and robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow” (Pg 139). Xenophilius lives in a “most strange-looking house” and fills it with unusual and rare objects, like the Erumpent Horn, “an enormous gray spiral horn, not unlike that of a unicorn” (Pg 401). He possesses unusual knowledge, such as the fact that “gnome saliva is enormously beneficial” (Pg 140) and has even “done a lot of research on Gernumbli magic” (Pg 141). Indeed, Xenophilius is an apt name for this character!
*Quotes cited from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.
the word explorer 