English
affinity
Affinity comes from Old French affinité.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400affinité1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500affinite1
- Englishearliest quotation 1916affinity1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English affinity
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1916, The Electrical Experimenter, New York: “Cut it short, sis, cut it short," he would…”.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400affinitéWiktionary, English affinity
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500affiniteWiktionary, English affinity
- Englishearliest quotation 1916affinityWiktionary, English affinity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1916, The Electrical Experimenter, New York: “Cut it short, sis, cut it short," he would…”
Formed from affine + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘to, at’
Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
Latin ad ‘toward, to (direction)’
Latin fīnis ‘boundary’
Latin affinis ‘neighbouring, allied to, kindred’
English affine
Every English word from Old French affinité
Today it means
noun A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “affinity”. 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 / Old French affinité / affinity