# affect

Pronunciation: say "uh-FEKT" /əˈfɛkt/

## Verb

1. To have an influence on something or to bring about a change in it.
   - Simple: To have an effect on something and change it in some way.
   - _Rising fuel prices affect the cost of nearly everything we buy._
   - _The drought severely affected this year's harvest._
2. Of an illness or condition, to harm or infect a particular part of the body.
   - Simple: To harm or hurt a part of the body, as an illness does.
   - _Untreated infections can affect the liver._
   - _Multiple sclerosis affects the central nervous system._
3. To stir strong feelings in someone; to touch emotionally.
   - Simple: To touch someone's feelings in a strong way.
   - _The eulogy affected the entire congregation._
   - _Stories of survival affect us in ways statistics never can._
4. To put on a false display of something; to feign or pretend to have or feel.
   - Simple: To pretend to have a feeling or quality that you do not really have.
   - _She affected indifference, but the news clearly stung her._
   - _Politicians often affect a folksy manner to seem relatable._

## Noun

Pronunciation: say "AF-ekt" /ˈæ.fɛkt/

5. A subjective feeling or emotion, especially as shown through outward physical signs.
   - Simple: A feeling or mood, especially one you can see in a person's face or body.
   - _The therapist described the client's affect as unusually flat._
   - _Her bright affect lifted the mood of everyone in the room._

## Verb

6. To dispose or incline someone toward a particular tendency, feeling, or course of action. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make someone lean toward a feeling, habit, or choice.
7. In rare or old use, to feel fondness or liking for someone or something, and to favor or prefer it. *(rare)*
   - Simple: In old use, to like or love someone or something, and to choose it.
8. To tend toward something by natural affinity or disposition. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To naturally lean toward something because of a natural pull or liking.
9. To assign or appoint someone or something to a particular role, place, or purpose. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To give a person or thing a particular job, place, or use.
10. To aim for something and strive to obtain it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To try hard to get or reach something.

## Noun

Pronunciation: say "AF-ekt" /ˈæ.fɛkt/

11. A person's mood, inclination, or general mental state. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person's mood or general state of mind.
12. A desire or appetite directed toward something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A strong wish or hunger for something.

## Other meanings

- (verb) Of a legal charge, to burden property with a fixed payment, condition, or restriction.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 6, 8–9** — Latin afficere, meaning to influence, act upon, affect or strike with disease, combined ad- with facere ("to make, do"). Its participle affectus supplied the stem affect-, on which Latin affectāre was formed. That verb gave Middle English affecten, the source of English affect.
**Meanings 4, 7, 10** — Latin affectāre, meaning "to strive for, aim at, pursue, imitate deceptively, pretend," was a frequentative of afficere ("to act upon, influence"). It gave Anglo-Norman affecter ("strive after") and Middle French affecter ("feign"), and both fed into Middle English affecten.
**Meanings 5, 11–12** — Latin afficere ("to act upon, influence") produced the noun affectus (also adfectus), meaning a mental or bodily state brought about by some outside influence, especially sympathy or love. This passed into Middle English as affect.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/affect (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).