Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Affinity

Af-fin′i-ty

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Affinities
.
[OF.
afinité
, F.
affinité
, L.
affinites
, fr.
affinis
. See
Affined
.]
1.
Relationship by marriage (as between a husband and his wife’s blood relations, or between a wife and her husband's blood relations); – in contradistinction to consanguinity, or relationship by blood; – followed by with, to, or between.
Solomon made
affinity
with Pharaoh.
1 Kings iii. 1.
2.
Kinship generally; close agreement; relation; conformity; resemblance; connection;
as, the
affinity
of sounds, of colors, or of languages
.
There is a close
affinity
between imposture and credulity.
Sir G. C. Lewis.
2.
Companionship; acquaintance.
[Obs.]
About forty years past, I began a happy
affinity
with William Cranmer.
Burton.
4.
(Chem.)
That attraction which takes place, at an insensible distance, between the heterogeneous particles of bodies, and unites them to form chemical compounds; chemism; chemical or elective affinity or attraction.
5.
(Nat. Hist.)
A relation between species or higher groups dependent on resemblance in the whole plan of structure, and indicating community of origin.
6.
(Spiritualism)
A superior spiritual relationship or attraction held to exist sometimes between persons, esp. persons of the opposite sex; also, the man or woman who exerts such psychical or spiritual attraction.

Webster 1828 Edition


Affinity

AFFIN'ITY

,
Noun.
[L. affinitas, from affinis, adjacent, related by marriage; ad and finis, end.]
1.
The relation contracted by marriage, between a husband and his wife's kindred, and between a wife and her husband's kindred; in contradistinction from consanguinity or relation by blood.
Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh. 1Kings 3.
2.
Agreement; relation; conformity; resemblance; connection; as, the affinity of sounds, of colors, or of languages.
3.
In chimistry, attraction; elective attraction, or that tendency which different species of matter have to unite, and combine with certain other bodies, and the power that disposes them to continue in combination There are two kinds of affinity.
1.
Affinity of aggregation, which is the power that causes two homogeneous bodies to tend towards each other, unite and cohere, as two drops of water, which unite in one.
2.
Affinity of composition, which is the tendency of bodies of different kinds to unite and form new combinations of bodies with different properties. Such is the affinity which unites acids and alkalies, the results of which combination are neutral salts.
The operations of this principle are various. When heterogeneous bodies have mutually an equal attraction, it is called compound affinity. When one substance decomposes a combination of others, unites with one of them and precipitates the other, the power is called the affinity of decomposition. When bodies will not unite, but by means of a third, which enables them to combine, this is affinity by means of a medium.
Double affinity is when by means of four bodies, two decompositions and two new combinations are effected.

Definition 2024


affinity

affinity

English

Noun

affinity (plural affinities)

  1. A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing.
  2. A family relationship through marriage of a relative (e.g. sister-in-law), as opposed to consanguinity. (e.g. sister).
  3. A kinsman or kinswoman of such relationship. Affinal kinsman or kinswoman.
  4. The fact of and manner in which something is related to another.
    • 1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 67, The Renaissance Episteme (Totem Books, Icon Books; ISBN 1840460865):
      A “signature” was placed on all things by God to indicate their affinities — but it was hidden, hence the search for arcane knowledge. Knowing was guessing and interpreting, not observing or demonstrating.
  5. Any romantic relationship.
  6. Any passionate love for something.
  7. (taxonomy) resemblances between biological populations; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin, type or stock.
  8. (geology) structural resemblances between minerals; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin or type.
  9. (chemistry) An attractive force between atoms, or groups of atoms, that contributes towards their forming bonds
  10. (medicine) The attraction between an antibody and an antigen
  11. (computing) tendency to keep a task running on the same processor in a symmetric multiprocessing operating system to reduce the frequency of cache misses
  12. (geometry) An automorphism of affine space.

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