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affinis

Etymology and origin of the Latin word affinis

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (fīnis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [afˈfiː.nɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [afˈfiː.nis][1]

Forms

affīnis (neuter affīne); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from ad- (“at”) and fīnis “boundary”: bordering on.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of being implicated and of relations by marriage.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant lying next to, bordering on, as in Cicero, and related by marriage, as in Terence, poetically of kinship.[2][3] Of things it meant closely related, akin, as in Varro, and of persons connected with, implicated in, as in Plautus, or prone to a vice.[2] As a noun it meant a neighbour, a relation by marriage, as in Plautus, and an accomplice, as in Livy.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant allied, related by marriage.[5] In Medieval Latin it meant a neighbour, an adjacent plot and a boundary stone.[6][7] It survives in French affin and Italian affine.[1] English affinity comes from its noun affīnitās about 1300, first meaning relation by marriage, and English paraffin was coined about 1830 from parum affīnis “having little affinity”.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of relations by marriage and accomplices.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of relation by marriage.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of bordering lands.[2][4]
  • c. 1300 – English affinity is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Bordering, neighbouring.[2]
  2. Related by marriage.[2]
  3. Closely related, akin.[2]
  4. Implicated (in); prone (to).[2]

Noun

  1. A neighbour.[2]
  2. A relation by marriage, in-law.[2]
  3. An accomplice.[2]

Word family

  • affīnitās

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Affinis.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/affinis. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·