affect.
To influence or alter.
Meaning & usage
To influence or alter.
The experience affected me deeply.
The heat of the sunlight affected the speed of the chemical reaction.
To move to emotion.
He was deeply affected by the tragic ending of the play.
Of an illness or condition, to infect or harm (a part of the body).
Hepatitis affects the liver.
To dispose or incline.
To tend to by affinity or disposition.
To assign; to appoint.
To burden (property) with a fixed charge or payment, or other condition or restriction.
To feign or pretend.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English affecten, from Latin affectāre, from Latin affectus, the participle stem of Latin afficere (“to act upon, influence, affect, attack with disease”), from ad- + facere (“to make, do”). By surface analysis, af- + Latin -fect.
To make a show of; to put on a pretense of; to feign; to assume. To make a false display of.
to affect ignorance
to affect a British accent
To aim for, to try to obtain.
To feel affection for (someone); to like, be fond of.
To show a fondness for (something); to choose.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English affecten, from Anglo-Norman affecter (“strive after”), Middle French affecter (“feign”), and their source, Latin affectāre (“to strive after, aim to do, pursue, imitate with dissimulation, feign”), frequentative of afficere (“to act upon, influence”) (see Etymology 1, above).
A subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus; mood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs.
One's mood or inclination; mental state.
A desire, an appetite.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English affect, from Latin affectus, adfectus (“a state of mind or body produced by some (external) influence, especially sympathy or love”), from afficere (“to act upon, influence”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.