Definitions for affect
əˈfɛkt; ˈæf ɛktaf·fect

Princeton's WordNet(4.14 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. affectverb

   the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion

2. affect, impact, bear upon, bear on, touch on, touchverb

   have an effect upon

   "Will the new rules affect me?"

3. affectverb

   act physically on; have an effect upon

   "the medicine affects my heart rate"

4. involve, affect, regardverb

   connect closely and often incriminatingly

   "This new ruling affects your business"

5. feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissembleverb

   make believe with the intent to deceive

   "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache"

6. affect, impress, move, strikeverb

   have an emotional or cognitive impact upon

   "This child impressed me as unusually mature"; "This behavior struck me as odd"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Affectnoun

   Etymology: from the verb affect.

   1. Affection; passion; sensation.

   It seemeth that as the feet have a sympathy with the head; so the wrists have a sympathy with the heart; we see the affects and passions of the heart and spirits are notably disclosed by the pulse. Francis Bacon, Natural History, №. 97.

   2. Quality; circumstance. This is only the antiquated word for affection.

   I find it difficult to make out one single ulcer, as authors describe it, without other symptoms or affects joined to it. Richard Wiseman.

2. To AFFECTverb

   Etymology: affecter, Fr. afficio, affectum, Lat.

   1. To act upon; to produce effects in any other thing.

   The sun
   Had first his precept so to move, so shine,
   As might affect the earth with cold, and heat,
   Scarce tolerable. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. x.

   The generality of men are wholly governed by names, in matters of good and evil; so far as these qualities relate to, and affect, the actions of men. Robert South, Sermons.

   Yet even those two particles do reciprocally affect each other with the same force and vigour, as they would do at the same distance in any other situation imaginable. Richard Bentley, Sermons.

   2. To move the passions.

   As a thinking man cannot but be very much affected with the idea of his appearing in the presence of that Being, whom none can see and live; he must be much more affected, when he considers, that this Being whom he appears before, will examine the actions of his life, and reward or punish him accordingly. Joseph Addison, Spectator, №. 513.

   3. To aim at; to endeavour after: spoken of persons.

   Atrides broke
   His silence next, but ponder’d ere he spoke:
   Wise are thy words, and glad I would obey,
   But this proud man affects imperial sway. John Dryden, Iliad.

   4. To tend to; to endeavour after: spoken of things.

   The drops of every fluid affect a round figure, by the mutual attraction of their parts; as, the globe of the earth and sea affects a round figure, by the mutual attraction of its parts by gravity. Isaac Newton, Opticks.

   5. To be fond of; to be pleased with; to love; to regard with fondness.

   That little which some of the heathen did chance to hear, concerning such matter as the sacred Scripture plentifully containeth, they did in wonderful sort affect. Richard Hooker, b. i.

   There is your crown;
   And he that wears the crown immortally,
   Long guard it yours! If I affect it more,
   Than as your honour, and as your renown,
   Let me no more from this obedience rise. William Shakespeare, Henry IV.

   Think not that wars we love, and strife affect;
   Or that we hate sweet peace. Edward Fairfax, b. ii.

   None but a woman could a man direct
   To tell us women what we most affect. John Dryden, Wife of Bath.

   6. To make a shew of something; to study the appearance of any thing; with some degree of hypocrisy.

   Another nymph, amongst the many fair,
   Before the rest affected still to stand,
   And watch’d my eye preventing my command. Matthew Prior.

   These often carry the humour so far, till their affected coldness and indifference quite kills all the fondness of a lover. Joseph Addison, Spectator, №. 171.

   The conscious husband, whom like symptoms seize,
   Charges on her the guilt of their disease;
   Affecting fury, acts a madman’s part,
   He’ll rip the fatal secret from her heart. George Granville.

   7. To imitate in an unnatural and constrained manner.

   Edmund Spenser, in affecting the ancients, writ no language; yet I would have him read for his matter, but as Virgil read Ennius. Ben Jonson, Discoveries.

   8. To convict of some crime; to attaint with guilt: a phrase merely juridical.

   By the civil law, if a dowry with a wife be promised and not paid, the husband is not obliged to allow her alimony. But if her parents shall become insolvent by some misfortune, she shall have alimony, unless you can affect them with fraud, in promising what they knew they were not able to perform. John Ayliffe, Parergon.

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Affectverb

   to act upon; to produce an effect or change upon

2. Affectverb

   to influence or move, as the feelings or passions; to touch

3. Affectverb

   to love; to regard with affection

4. Affectverb

   to show a fondness for; to like to use or practice; to choose; hence, to frequent habitually

5. Affectverb

   to dispose or incline

6. Affectverb

   to aim at; to aspire; to covet

7. Affectverb

   to tend to by affinity or disposition

8. Affectverb

   to make a show of; to put on a pretense of; to feign; to assume; as, to affect ignorance

9. Affectverb

   to assign; to appoint

10. Affectnoun

    affection; inclination; passion; feeling; disposition

11. Etymology: [L. affectus.]

Freebase(1.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Affect

   Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect". The affective domain represents one of the three divisions described in modern psychology: the cognitive, the conative, and the affective. Classically, these divisions have also been referred to as the "ABC of psychology", in that case using the terms "affect", "behavior", and "cognition". In certain views, the conative may be considered as a part of the affective, or the affective as a part of the cognitive.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Affect

   af-fekt′, v.t. to act upon: to produce a change upon: to move the feelings: to assign, apply (only in pass.).—adj. Affect′ed, touched with a feeling either for or against (with by): full of affectation: feigned.—adv. Affect′edly.—n. Affect′edness.—adj. Affect′ing, having power to move the passions: pathetic.—adv. Affect′ingly. [L. afficĕre, affectum—ad, to, facĕre, to do.]

2. Affect

   af-fekt′, v.t. to make a show or pretence of, to assume, to counterfeit or pretend to, to take upon one's self to: (obs.) to aim at, seek to obtain: (arch.) have a liking for, to love: to practise, wear, or frequent: to haunt or inhabit by preference.—n. Affectā′tion, a striving after, or an attempt to assume, what is not natural or real: pretence. [L. affectāre, freq. of afficĕre. See Affect above.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Affect

   The feeling-tone accompaniment of an idea or mental representation. It is the most direct psychic derivative of instinct and the psychic representative of the various bodily changes by means of which instincts manifest themselves.

Matched Categories

1. • Change
   • Concern
   • Misrepresent

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'affect' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2232

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'affect' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1926

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'affect' in Verbs Frequency: #169

How to pronounce affect?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say affect in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of affect in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of affect in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of affect in a Sentence

1. Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman:

   When I was in Jaffna yesterday, I heard great skepticism from people in the north about would some of those words really translate into tangible steps that would affect their life.

2. Christopher Dempsey:

   As we look ahead for the next 10 years, we do not want to see the civic conversation devoted to stadiums and velodromes, the people of Massachusetts elect their leaders to focus on getting the basics right and to focus on the big issues that affect their lives day to day, and not to host glitzy events 10 years out.

3. Sara Gottfried:

   Grains affect the thyroid, but gluten is especially the problem here because gluten looks a lot like the thyroid and so it can make your body attack the thyroid.

4. Nancy Patricia Gutierrez:

   We have found with great sadness that these marches are taken advantage of by vandals who affect the wellbeing of citizens, especially when there are blockages and effects on mass transit systems, when there are road blockades, when private and public installations are attacked.

5. Jeff Weaver:

   We're raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour that will give 50% of African-American workers a raise, these are issues that are obviously important to all of America, but in many cases because of the disproportionate amount of poverty in the African-American community, many of these issues will affect this community even more strongly.

Popularity rank by frequency of use