affect

Less common meanings

4. 4
   pretendverbtransitive

   To put on a false display of something; to feign or pretend to have or feel.

   She affected indifference, but the news clearly stung her.

   Politicians often affect a folksy manner to seem relatable.

   Similarfake, feign, simulate

   Note

   Historically this is a different verb from the "influence" one, though it comes from the same Latin stock. It reached English through French affecter, "feign," from Latin affectāre, which meant both "strive after" and "imitate with dissimulation." The object is the thing put on: ignorance, an accent, a smile, someone's manners. The pretense is part of the meaning, so to affect a smile implies the happiness behind it is missing. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • The feigning verb has a distinct historical derivation from the influence verb, with a shared Latin source. en.wiktionary.org
   • English affect in this sense came through French affecter, meaning “feign,” from Latin affectāre. en.wiktionary.org
   • Latin affectāre meant both “strive after” and “imitate with dissimulation.” en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   emotion (psychology)noununcountable

   A subjective feeling or emotion, especially as shown through outward physical signs.

   The therapist described the client's affect as unusually flat.

   Her bright affect lifted the mood of everyone in the room.

   Similardemeanor, mood

   Note

   This noun is a separate borrowing, from Latin affectus, "a state of mind or body produced by some influence." Psychology uses it for feeling as it shows outwardly, and it takes qualifiers easily: positive affect, flat affect. It can be plural too, as when Joyce Crick's Freud speaks of "the development of affects" in dreams. Greenberg and Pyszczynski's handbook (2004) uses both words in one line: "the effects of self-affirmation… were not due to positive affect." Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts

   • The noun has a separate etymology, deriving through Middle English from Latin affectus. en.wiktionary.org
   • Latin affectus denotes a state or feeling produced by an influence. en.wiktionary.org
   • Joyce Crick translated Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. wellcomecollection.org
   • Crick's translation uses the plural affects in discussing dreams. en.wiktionary.org
   • Greenberg and Pyszczynski coedited the handbook, which was published in 2004; Sander L. Koole was also an editor. guilford.com
   • The handbook was first published in 2004. guilford.com
   • The handbook contains the quoted contrast between effects and affect. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   verbarchaictransitive

   To dispose or incline someone toward a particular tendency, feeling, or course of action.

   men whom they thought best affected to religion and their country's liberty

   1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs]

   Note

   Look for it as a past participle followed by to. Milton in 1649 praises men "best affected to religion and their country's liberty," meaning most favorably disposed toward them. The degree word does the measuring, so it can be well, better or best. In modern prose use disposed or inclined instead. In older texts, affected to in this sense means "inclined toward," never "harmed by." Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Milton's Eikonoklastes was published in 1649. en.wikipedia.org
   • Milton uses the quoted wording approvingly of elected men; affected means favorably disposed in this passage. The item's spelling is modernized. archive.org
7. 7
   verbraretransitive

   In rare or old use, to feel fondness or liking for someone or something, and to favor or prefer it.

   As for Queen Katharine, he rather respected, then affected; rather honoured, then loved her.

   1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain

   There is a Lady in Verona heere Whom I affect: but she is nice, and coy, And naught esteemes my aged eloquence.

   c. 1590, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”

   Note

   The lover's sense, now rare, that Shakespeare, Spenser and Robert Burton all use. In The Two Gentlemen of Verona the Duke, posing as a suitor, speaks of a lady "whom I affect." Thomas Fuller's Church-history of Britain (1655) sets it against duty: he respected Queen Katharine rather than affected her, meaning he esteemed her but did not love her. In older texts, read it as "loved," not the everyday "influenced". Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts

   • Shakespeare uses affect in the sense of loving or liking. shakespeare.mit.edu
   • Spenser uses affect in the sense of loving or liking. en.wiktionary.org
   • Robert Burton uses affect in the sense of loving or liking. gutenberg.org
   • The quotation occurs in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. folger.edu
   • The Duke speaks these words while posing as a suitor to trick Valentine into revealing his elopement arrangements; the courtship is a pretext. folger.edu
   • Thomas Fuller wrote The Church-history of Britain, published in 1655. archive.org
   • Fuller's passage contrasts respecting and honouring Queen Katharine with loving her. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   verbarchaictransitive

   To tend toward something by natural affinity or disposition.

   The drops of every fluid affect a round figure.

   1704, I[saac] N[ewton], Opticks

   Note

   Newton gives the clearest picture of it: in Opticks (1704) "the drops of every fluid affect a round figure," meaning they take that shape of their own accord. Here the subject is a thing, and the verb names a natural tendency rather than a choice. A modern reader would hear the "influence" meaning in the same sentence, so in your own writing say tend toward or naturally take on. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Newton's Opticks was first published in 1704. digital.archives.caltech.edu
   • Newton wrote the quoted words in Opticks, with capitalization normalized in the item. gutenberg.org
   • Here affect expresses a natural tendency, with drops as its subject. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   verbarchaictransitive

   To assign or appoint someone or something to a particular role, place, or purpose.

   One of the domestics was affected to his special service.

   1847, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

   Note

   Thackeray still uses it in Vanity Fair: "One of the domestics was affected to his special service," meaning the servant was assigned to him. It has the same shape as the "disposed toward" sense, a passive affected to, but a different meaning. In s4 the phrase describes a person's leanings; here it describes a posting someone else has made. Modern English says assigned to or appointed to. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • William Makepeace Thackeray wrote Vanity Fair. gutenberg.org
   • The quotation occurs in Vanity Fair's narration, with its initial capitalization and terminal punctuation adapted from a longer sentence. gutenberg.org
   • Affected to here means assigned to a service or role. en.wiktionary.org
   • The disposed-toward sense describes inclination, unlike the assignment sense illustrated by the quotation. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To aim for something and strive to obtain it.

    For it is believed, that he never was married, affecting and embracing Chastity through the whole course of his Life.

    1662, Jacques Olivier, A Discourse of Women

    Note

    The "strive after" half of affectāre, the Latin verb behind the "pretend" meaning, survives in this sense. Its objects are things wanted: Dryden's proud man "affects imperial sway," and Shakespeare's Duke distrusts any man who affects loud applause. In Emerson's "I affect to be intoxicated" (1841), the reaching has already turned into pretense. Today aim at, seek or aspire to do this work. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The striving and pretending senses share Latin affectāre as their source; the striving sense concerns obtaining something desired. en.wiktionary.org
    • Dryden uses the quoted words in his translation of the first book of Homer's Iliad. en.wikisource.org
    • Shakespeare's Duke questions the discretion of anyone who seeks loud applause, in Measure for Measure, Act 1, scene 1. folger.edu
    • Emerson wrote the quoted words in Self-Reliance, where the context confirms the meaning 'pretend'. en.wikisource.org
    • Self-Reliance was first published in 1841. en.wikipedia.org
11. 11
    nounobsolete

    A person's mood, inclination, or general mental state.

    Note

    An older, broader use of the noun keeps closer to the Latin affectus behind the psychologist's term. It means a person's whole state of mind rather than a feeling on display. Because it is obsolete, a modern reader will take "the patient's affect" in the clinical way. For this older meaning, write mood, frame of mind or disposition. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The older noun and the psychological noun derive from Latin affectus. en.wiktionary.org
    • An obsolete sense denotes a person's mood, inclination or mental state. en.wiktionary.org
12. 12
    nounobsolete

    A desire or appetite directed toward something.

    Note

    Here the noun turns active: it names a pull toward something, an appetite, rather than a state one is in. It is obsolete, and a modern reader will hear the clinical sense, so say desire or appetite. Its kinship with the "strive after" verb is real, but the two reach the same idea by different Latin routes: affectus for the noun, affectāre for the verb. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The noun has an obsolete sense meaning desire or appetite. en.wiktionary.org
    • The noun derives from Latin affectus. en.wiktionary.org
    • The related verb derives from Latin affectāre, meaning strive after; both Latin routes ultimately involve afficere. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    verb

    Of a legal charge, to burden property with a fixed payment, condition, or restriction.