affect

pronunciation

How to pronounce affect in British English: UK [əˈfekt] word uk audio image

How to pronounce affect in American English: US [əˈfekt] word us audio image

Noun:

the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion
Verb:

have an effect upon
act physically on; have an effect upon
connect closely and often incriminatingly
make believe with the intent to deceive
have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

Word Origin

affect: affect: There are two distinct verbs affect in English: ‘simulate insincerely’ [15] and ‘have an effect on’ [17]; but both come ultimately from the same source, Latin afficere. Of compound origin, from the prefix ad- ‘to’ and facere ‘do’, this had a wide range of meanings. One set, in reflexive use, was ‘apply oneself to something’, and a new verb, affectāre, was formed from its past participle affectus, meaning ‘aspire or pretend to have’.Either directly or via French affecter, this was borrowed into English, and is now most commonly encountered in the past participle adjective affected and the derived noun affectation. Another meaning of afficere was ‘influence’, and this first entered English in the 13th century by way of its derived noun affectiō, meaning ‘a particular, usually unfavourable disposition’ – hence affection.The verb itself was a much later borrowing, again either through French or directly from the Latin past participle affectus.=> fact

affect (n.): late 14c., "mental state," from Latin noun use of affectus "furnished, supplied, endowed," figuratively "disposed, constituted, inclined," past participle of afficere "to do; treat, use, manage, handle; act on; have influence on, do something to," a verb of broad meaning, from ad- "to" (see ad-) + facere (past participle factus) "to make, do" (see factitious). Perhaps obsolete except in psychology. Related: Affects.

affect (v.2): "to make a pretense of," 1660s, earlier "to assume the character of (someone)," 1590s; originally in English "to aim at, aspire to, desire" (early 15c.), from Middle French affecter (15c.), from Latin affectare "to strive after, aim at," frequentative of afficere (past participle affectus) "to do something to, act on" (see affect (n.)). Related: Affected; affecting.

affect (v.1): "to make an impression on," 1630s; earlier "to attack" (c. 1600), "act upon, infect" (early 15c.), from affect (n.). Related: Affected; affecting.