affect

Verb (1)

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

1. (transitive) To influence or alter.
   • The experience affected me deeply.
   • The heat of the sunlight affected the speed of the chemical reaction.

   Synonyms:

   alter, change, have an effect on, influence, play a role in, play a part in

2. (transitive) To move to emotion.
   • He was deeply affected by the tragic ending of the play.
   • A consideration of the rationale of our passions seems to me very necessary for all who would affect them upon solid and pure principles.1757, Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

   Synonyms:

   move, touch

3. (transitive) Of an illness or condition, to infect or harm (a part of the body).
   • Hepatitis affects the liver.

   Synonyms:

   attack, harm, infect

4. (archaic, transitive) To dispose or incline.
   • men whom they thought best affected to religion and their country's liberty1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC
5. (archaic, transitive) To tend to by affinity or disposition.
   • The drops of every fluid affect a round figure.1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin]...
6. (archaic, transitive) To assign; to appoint.
   • One of the domestics was affected to his special service.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
7. (transitive, Scots law) To burden (property) with a fixed charge or payment, or other condition or restriction.
8. (archaic, transitive) To feign or pretend.
   • The light above the door made it unconvincing to affect that no one was at home.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

Verb (2)

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.
   • to affect ignorance
   • to affect a British accent

   Synonyms:

   fake, simulate, feign

2. (obsolete, transitive) To aim for, to try to obtain.
   • 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.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]...
   • For it is believed, that he never was married, affecting and embracing Chastity through the whole course of his Life.1662, Jacques Olivier, translated by Richard Banke, A Discourse of Women, Shewing Their Imperfections Alphabetically, →OCLC, page 15
3. (rare, transitive) To feel affection for (someone); to like, be fond of.
   • There is a Lady in Verona heere
     Whom I affect: but she is nice, and coy,
     And naught esteemes my aged eloquence.c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
   • From that day forth she gan to him affect, / And daily more her favour to augment […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
4. (obsolete, transitive) To show a fondness for (something); to choose.
   • Amongst humane conditions this one is very common, that we are rather pleased with strange things then with our owne; we love changes, affect alterations, and like innovations.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 9, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book III, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
   • Go, let him have a table by himself, for he does neither affect company, nor is he fit for’t, indeed.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Noun

IPA/ˈæ.fɛkt/

affect (plural affects)

1. A subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus; mood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs.
   • 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 [...].1899, Sigmund Freud, translated by Joyce Crick, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford, published 2008, page 62
   • A third study demonstrated that the effects of self-affirmation on self-regulated performance were not due to positive affect.2004, Jeffrey Greenberg, Thomas A Pyszczynski, Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology, page 407
2. (obsolete) One's mood or inclination; mental state.
3. (obsolete) A desire, an appetite.