affect

English has two verbs spelled affect, both from Latin afficere “to act on, influence”: “to influence”, from its past participle affectus, and “to pretend, put on”, from the frequentative affectāre; a noun “feeling”, with stress on the first syllable, belongs with the first.^[1][2][3]

affect¹ influence

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈfekt/ (verb), /ˈæf.ekt/ (noun)^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English affecten,^[1][2] borrowed from Latin affectus, the past participle of afficere (“to act on, exert influence on”),^[1][2] or from French affecter,^[3][5] from ad- “to” and facere “to make, do”,^[1][6][2] from Proto-Indo-European *dhe- (“to set, put”).^[6] The noun is borrowed from Latin affectus (“disposition, mood, state of mind”), the noun use of the participle;^[6][2] its psychological sense translates German Affekt.^[6][7][8] It is related to affection and effect.^[2][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, “to act upon, infect”: 1410 in Barnhart,^[1] the early 15th century in Etymonline, and in the New Oxford first of a disease attacking someone.^[6][5] The noun, a mental state, mood or feeling, is from about 1374.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

“To attack” is from about 1600, and “to make a mental impression on, move” from the 1630s.^[6] Hoad dates “attack, influence, move” to the 17th century.^[3] The Century Dictionary noted that the two verbs and their derivatives run into each other and cannot be fully separated.^[6] The noun meant inward feeling, as opposed to outward action, from about 1400, and passion or desire as against reason from 1531;^[7] it fell out of use except in psychology, where it was coined anew in 1891 after German Affekt, for the feeling side of mental life.^[6][7][5]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – noun, a mental state.^[7]
• 1410 – to act upon.^[1]
• c. 1600 – to attack.^[6]
• 1630s – to move the feelings.^[6]
• 1891 – noun, in psychology.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To have an influence on or bring about a change in.
2. To act on the emotions of; to touch or move.
3. To attack or infect, as a disease.

Noun

1. (psychology) A feeling or emotion, as distinguished from thought or action.
2. The outward expression of emotion.

Word family

• affecting
• affective
• affection

affect² pretend

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈfekt/^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English affecten (“to desire, aim at”),^[1][2] borrowed from Middle French affecter, Anglo-French affeter,^[1][6][2] from Latin affectāre (“to strive after, aim at, pretend to have”), the frequentative of afficere “to act on”.^[1][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To desire, aim at, aspire to”, now obsolete: probably before 1425 in Barnhart,^[1] the early 15th century in Etymonline,^[6] 1483 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

“To have a liking for” is from the 16th century, now archaic.^[3][8] “To assume the character of someone” is from the 1590s,^[6] and “to make a pretence of, put on” from the 1660s,^[6] the 17th century in Hoad.^[3] Affectation is from 1548.^[1]

Timeline

• a. 1425 – to aspire to.^[1]
• 1548 – affectation.^[1]
• 16th century – to like.^[3]
• 1590s – to assume a character.^[6]
• 1660s – to pretend.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To put on a false show of; to pretend: affect indifference.
2. To like to use or wear: affected a monocle.
3. (archaic) To be fond of; to love.

Word family

• affectation
• affected

Related words

• affectionate
• effect
• infect

Usage notes

The American Heritage notes that affect and effect have no senses in common: as a verb, affect means “to influence” and effect “to bring about”, so “measures that affect savings” may reduce existing savings, while “measures that effect savings” create new ones.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin