affect

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See also: Affect

English[edit]

WOTD – 28 June 2011

Etymology 1[edit]

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”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: ə.fĕkt', IPA(key): /əˈfɛkt/
  • Audio (UK)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛkt
  • Homophone: effect (weak vowel merger)
  • Hyphenation: af‧fect

Verb[edit]

affect (third-person singular simple present affects, present participle affecting, simple past and past participle affected)

  1. (transitive) To influence or alter.
    Synonyms: alter, change, have an effect on, influence
    The experience affected me deeply.
    The heat of the sunlight affected the speed of the chemical reaction.
  3. (transitive) To move to emotion.
    Synonyms: move, touch
    He was deeply affected by the tragic ending of the play.
    • 1757, Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful:
      A consideration of the rationale of our passions seems to me very necessary for all who would affect them upon solid and pure principles.
  4. (transitive, pathology) Of an illness or condition, to infect or harm (a part of the body).
    Synonyms: attack, harm, infect
    Hepatitis affects the liver.
  5. (transitive, archaic) To dispose or incline.
  6. (transitive, archaic) To tend to by affinity or disposition.
  7. (transitive, archaic) To assign; to appoint.
  8. (transitive, Scots law) To burden (property) with a fixed charge or payment, or other condition or restriction.
Usage notes[edit]

Affect and effect are sometimes confused. Affect conveys influence over something that already exists, but effect indicates the manifestation of new or original ideas or entities:

  • "...new policies have effected major changes in government."
  • "...new policies have affected major changes in government."

The former indicates that major changes were made as a result of new policies, while the latter indicates that before new policies, major changes were in place, and that the new policies had some influence over these existing changes.

The verbal noun uses of affect are distinguished from the verbal noun uses of effect more clearly than the regular verb forms. An affect is something that acts or acted upon something else. However, an effect is the result of an action (by something else).

Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2[edit]

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).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

affect (third-person singular simple present affects, present participle affecting, simple past and past participle affected)

  1. (transitive) To make a show of; to put on a pretense of; to feign; to assume. To make a false display of. [from 16th c.]
    Synonyms: fake, simulate, feign
    to affect ignorance
    to affect a British accent
    He managed to affect a smile despite feeling quite miserable.
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To aim for, to try to obtain. [15th–19th c.]
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
      Duke.[...] I loue the people,
      But doe not like to stage me to their eyes:
      Though it doe well, I doe not rellish well
      Their lowd applause, and Aues vehement:
      Nor doe I thinke the man of safe discretion
      That do's affect it.
    • 1662, Jacques Olivier, translated by Richard Banke, A Discourse of Women, Shewing Their Imperfections Alphabetically, →OCLC, page 15:
      For it is believed, that he never was married, affecting and embracing Chastity through the whole course of his Life.
    • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer’s Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 430:
      Wiſe are thy words, and glad I would obey, / But this proud man affects imperial ſway.
    • 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, in Essays: First Series:
      I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated.
  3. (transitive, rare) To feel affection for (someone); to like, be fond of. [from 16th c.]
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To show a fondness for (something); to choose. [from 16th c.]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

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”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

affect (plural affects)

  2. (psychology) A subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus; mood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs. [from 19th c.]
    • 1999, Sigmund Freud, translated by Joyce Crick, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford, published 2008, page 62:
      if we are afraid of robbers in a dream, the robbers are certainly imaginary, but the fear is real. This draws our attention to the fact that the development of affects [translating Affectentwicklung] in dreams is not amenable to the judgement we make of the rest of the dream-content [...].
    • 2004, Jeffrey Greenberg, Thomas A Pyszczynski, Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology, page 407:
      A third study demonstrated that the effects of self-affirmation on self-regulated performance were not due to positive affect.
  3. (obsolete) One's mood or inclination; mental state. [14th–17th c.]
  4. (obsolete) A desire, an appetite. [16th–17th c.]
Usage notes[edit]

Affect and effect can both be used as nouns or verbs, but when used as a noun the word affect is limited to the above psychology uses and the definitions for effect are much more common. See also the usage notes as a verb above.

Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin affectus.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

affect m (plural affects)

  1. (psychology, philosophy) affect; emotion

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Scots[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Verb[edit]

affect (third-person singular simple present affects, present participle affectin, simple past affectit, past participle affectit)

  1. to affect
  2. (law) to burden property with a fixed charge or payment, or other condition or restriction

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

affect (plural affects)

  1. affect, mood

References[edit]

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