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affinity Definition

af·fin·ity (ə fin′i tē, a-)

noun pl. -·ties

  1. relationship by marriage
  2. close relationship; connection
  3. similarity of structure, as of species or languages, implying common origin; family resemblance
  4. a natural liking or sympathy; esp., a mutual attraction between a man and a woman
  5. a person of the opposite sex who especially attracts one
  6. the attractive force, of varying strength for various elements, molecules, etc., that causes the atoms of certain elements to combine and stay combined

Etymology: ME affinite < OFr afinite < L affinitas < affinis, adjacent, related by marriage < ad-, to + finis, a border

affinity Related Forms
af·fin′i·tive adjective
affinity Synonyms

affinity

n.

  1. Natural liking or attraction

    fondness, liking, sympathy, proclivity; see affection 1, agreement 2, inclination 1.

  2. Family relationship

    kinship, relation, relationship, bond, tie, connection, consanguinity, alliance, blood tie, association, attachment, union, propinquity, relationship by marriage, interconnection, parentage, fraternity, strain, lineage, heritage, agnation, cognation, breed, stock, affiliation.

  3. Attractive force

    attraction, magnetism, magnetization, ionization, appetency, combining power, instability, susceptibility, attractivity, elective affinity, chemical affinity, valence.

  4. Similarity

    likeness, resemblance, correspondence; see similarity.

affinity Law Definition

n

  1. A close agreement.
  2. The attraction between people.
  3. Any relationship created by marriage. See also consanguinity.
  4. A term used to describe the relationship that one has to the adopted or blood (and usually close) relatives of their spouse. For example, affinity exists between a woman and her husband’s brother.
affinity Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • feel: Turk feels an affinity with the dour playwright's style.
  • possess: Possesses strong affinity with gold, silver, platinum, and precious stones.
  • demonstrate: You should also be able to demonstrate an affinity with the Outdoors and camping.

Preposition: for

  • receptor: It is about 20 times as potent as morphine and has a high affinity for opioid receptors and slow dissociation from them.
  • oxygen: The affinity for the fourth oxygen to bind is approximately 300 times that for the first.

Adjective modifier

  • binding: A reliable assay is needed to be able to measure binding affinity.
  • elective: In fact, as Roberto Unger has demonstrated, there is no elective affinity between capitalism and democracy.
  • ideological: It meshed well with Russia's traditional primary focus on relations with the United States and was reinforced by apparent ideological affinity.
  • inherent: The growing fibers are selectively matched by inherent chemical affinities.
  • natural: The Teacher... Some people have a natural affinity with children.
  • close: The close affinity of the author's thought to that of Philo point in the same direction.

Modifies a noun

  • chromatography: Examples are the detection of cartilage damage in arthritis and the visualization of the process of affinity chromatography.
  • maturation: Affinity maturation: a retrospective view C. Berek, M. Apel.
  • purification: Protein purification Sareum's purification platform exploits the use of affinity tag protein purification methods.
  • receptor: IgE antibodies are bound by their Fc portion to high affinity Fc receptors expressed on Mast cells and basophils.
  • antibody: Both infections evoke CTL responses and high affinity antibody production.

Noun used with modifier

  • proton: Below is a table of proton affinities for various gaseous components.
  • electron: This is the reverse of the electron affinity of the chlorine.
  • processor: The lack of processor affinity also causes less damage with a shared L2 cache.
  • oxygen: There is a reduction in cardiac output and an increase in hemoglobin oxygen affinity.