affinity

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(ə-fĭn'ĭ-tē) pronunciation
n., pl., -ties.
  1. A natural attraction, liking, or feeling of kinship.
  2. Relationship by marriage.
  3. An inherent similarity between persons or things. See synonyms at likeness.
  4. Biology. A relationship or resemblance in structure between species that suggests a common origin.
  5. Immunology. The attraction between an antigen and an antibody.
  6. Chemistry. An attraction or force between particles that causes them to combine.

[Middle English affinite, from Old French afinite, from Latin affīnitās, from affīnis, related by marriage. See affined.]

USAGE NOTE   In the sense of "attraction," affinity may be followed by of, between, or with. Thus one may speak of the close affinity of James and Samuel, or of the affinity between James and Samuel, or of James's affinity with Samuel. In its chemical use affinity is generally followed by for: a dye with an affinity for synthetic fabrics. • One might want to avoid using affinity as a simple synonym for liking since 62 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the example Her affinity for living in California led her to reject a chance to return to New York. Nevertheless, the more sophisticated tone inherent in this use of the word can lend an archness to certain contexts, as when Barbara Tuchman writes of Kaiser Wilhelm's "affinity for coarse physical jokes practiced upon his courtiers." This may be why 65 percent of the Usage Panel approved of this quotation when it was presented as an example.



When affinity implies a mutual relationship or attraction, it is normally followed by between or with (The affinity between Britain and most of her former colonies /
Beckett...stresses that he wrote the little book on order, not out of any deep affinity with Proust—M. Esslin, 1980).
If the feeling is one-sided, it is necessary to use other words, such as sympathy, affection, feeling, etc., and these are followed by for. Affinity also has technical meanings, e.g. in metallurgy.

Previous:affect, effect, aesthete, aesthetic, aerie, aery
Next:affix, aftermath, afterward, afterwards

Groups of stores in close proximity to each other where each store offers the same merchandise as the other. For example, in many large metropolitan areas one can often find entire blocks where there are several stores side by side selling consumer electronic products or jewelry. Affinities allow consumers to comparison shop with relative ease.


n

Definition: liking or inclination toward something
Antonyms: dislike, hatred

n

Definition: similarity
Antonyms: dissimilarity

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

The relationship that a person has to the blood relatives of a spouse by virtue of the marriage.

The doctrine of affinity developed from a maxim of canon law that a husband and wife were made one by their marriage. There are three types of affinity. Direct affinity exists between the husband and his wife's relations by blood, or between the wife and the husband's relations by blood. Secondary affinity is between a spouse and the other spouse's relatives by marriage. Collateral affinity exists between a spouse and the relatives of the other spouse's relatives. The determination of affinity is important in various legal matters, such as deciding whether to prosecute a person for incest or whether to disqualify a juror for bias.

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affinity

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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Close relationship or connection.

pronunciation Peter felt a strong affinity for Sarah.

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  1. chemical attraction; the tendency of a chemical substance to combine with, bind to, or dissolve in other chemical substances.
  2. any measure of such chemical attraction.
  3. denoting biomolecular interaction that exhibits specificity.

Previous:affine, afferent, afamin
Next:affinity adsorbent, affinity chromatography, affinity constant

1. attraction; a tendency to seek out or unite with another object or substance.
2. in chemistry, the tendency of two substances to form strong or weak chemical bonds forming molecules or complexes.
3. in immunology, the thermodynamic bond strength of an antigen–antibody complex.

  • antibody a. — the strength of the binding interaction between antigen and antibody.
  • drug a. — the attraction of a particular class of receptor to a drug, at a level sufficient to give an observable reaction. Such a drug is an agonist.
  • a. maturation — the increased affinity of antibody for an antigen which occurs during the course of an immune response.
Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'affinity'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to affinity, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Affinity.

Affinity is a word used in a variety of fields, usually to indicate some kind of preference, relationship, or a potential or actual closeness between two entities.

Articles dealing with various usages of the word: affinity include:

Contents

Commerce and law

Religion and conviction

Science and technology

Various other meanings, media, and games

See also


Translations:

Affinity

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - slægtsskab, samhørighed

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    naturbestemt samhørighed
  • affinity card    medlemsrabatkort, kreditkort

Nederlands (Dutch)
affiniteit, verwantschap, relatie

Français (French)
n. - affinité, ressemblance, rapport, (Jur) affinité avec, attraction, attrait

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    une affinité naturelle pour
  • affinity card    carte d'affiliation, carte de réduction (pour des membres), (GB) carte bancaire (pour des dons aux ¯uvres caritatives)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Verwandschaft, Neigung, Affinität

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    natürliche Neigung
  • affinity card    Kreditkarte, bei der ein Teil des Geldes der Umwelt zugute kommt, (econ.) firmeneigene Kreditkarte

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (χημική) συγγένεια, (αμοιβαία) έλξη, συνάφεια, πνευματική συγγένεια, σύμπνοια, εξ αγχιστείας συγγένεια

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    φυσική ροπή προς
  • affinity card    τραπεζική κάρτα με απόδοση μέρους των κερδών σε κοινωφελή σκοπό

Italiano (Italian)
affinità, attrazione

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    affinità naturale per
  • affinity card    tessera di riduzione per soci

Português (Portuguese)
n. - afinidade (f), simpatia (f), parentesco (m) por casamento, atração (f)

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    uma simpatia natural por
  • affinity card    cartão (m) de afinidade

Русский (Russian)
близость, родство

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    природная склонность к
  • affinity card    кредитная карточка для членов предприятия/клуба

Español (Spanish)
n. - afinidad

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    tiene una afinidad natural por
  • affinity card    tarjeta de crédito con finalidades benéficas, tarjeta de descuento

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - släktskap, samhörighet

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
倾向, 喜好, 本性, 密切关系, 姻亲关系, 类同

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    对...有一种天生的亲近感, 与生俱来的...
  • affinity card    亲善信用卡

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 傾向, 喜好, 本性, 密切關係, 姻親關係, 類同

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    對...有一種天生的親近感, 與生俱來的...
  • affinity card    親善信用卡

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 인척[관계], 유사성, 취미, 친화력

idioms:

  • a natural affinity for    자연계의 친화력

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 密接な関係, 姻戚関係, 好み

idioms:

  • affinity card    提携先の割引などが受けられるカード

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مصاهره, إنجذاب, نسب, ألفه, ألقرابه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חיבה או משיכה לאדם או לדבר, יחסים, בד"כ בנישואים, דימיון מבני בין חיות, צמחים ולשונות, דמיון בתכונות המעיד על קרבה, נטייה של חומרים כימיים מסוימים לתרכובות עם אחרים‬


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