English
affine
Affine comes from Latin affinis ‘neighbouring, allied to, kindred’, from fīnis ‘boundary’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘to, at’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éd1‘to, at’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ad1‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEad1‘toward, to (direction)’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīnis1‘boundary’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaffinis1‘neighbouring, allied to, kindred’
- Englishearliest quotation 1986affine1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English affine
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Patrick J. Ryan, Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry: An Analytic Approach: “Now, let P, Q, and R be three noncollinear…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂édWiktionary, English affine‘to, at’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*adWiktionary, English affine‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadWiktionary, English affine‘toward, to (direction)’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīnisWiktionary, English affine‘boundary’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaffinisWiktionary, English affine‘neighbouring, allied to, kindred’
- Englishearliest quotation 1986affineWiktionary, English affine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Patrick J. Ryan, Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometry: An Analytic Approach: “Now, let P, Q, and R be three noncollinear…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘to, at’
through Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
through Latin ad ‘toward, to (direction)’
agree, ad, aim, await, attire, appoint, amortization, adage, accolade, adulation, alliteration, adroit, apportion, adobo, apres, affix, 20 more
through Latin fīnis ‘boundary’
final, finish, definition, infinite, infinity, finite, fin, financier, finesse, confine, infinitive, finis, fino, finial, 14 more
Today it means
adj Assigning finite values to finite quantities.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “affine”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd / affine