Etymologically
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afford

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:08. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /əˈfɔːd/, US /əˈfɔːrd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aforthen, earlier iforthen,[2][3] inherited from Old English ġeforþian (“to put forth; further, advance; carry out, accomplish”),[4][2][5] from the completive prefix ge-, which regularly became a- in Middle English, and forþian “to further”, from forþ, the source of forth.[4][2][5] In the 16th century the prefix was respelled af- in the mistaken belief that the word was Latin, with ad-,[4][2][5] and th became d, as in burden and murder.[4][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To forward to completion, perform, accomplish”: about 1050 in the OED,[6] late Old English in Etymonline.[4] The spelling afford is from 1588, in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.[2]

Semantic evolution

The notion of “accomplish” gradually became “to be able to bear the expense of, have enough money for”, from the late 14th century,[4][7][5] and the original senses died out.[4] “To manage to give, to spare” is from about 1449.[6] Of things, “to be capable of yielding”, it is from the 1580s,[4] 1581 in the OED, the sense in afford an opportunity,[6][4] and “to give, furnish, grant” from 1596,[6] the 16th century in Hoad.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – to accomplish.[6]
  • late 14th century – to have the means.[4]
  • c. 1449 – to manage to give.[6]
  • 1581 – to yield.[6]
  • 1588 – the spelling afford.[2]
  • 1596 – to furnish, grant.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To have enough money to pay for: can't afford a car.
  2. To be able to spare or give up: can't afford the time.
  3. To be able to do without risk: we can't afford to wait.
  4. To provide or make available: the hill affords a fine view.

Word family

  • affordability
  • affordable
  • affordably

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press