[f. (directly or through Fr. affecter) L. affect- ppl. stem of afficĕre to do to, act on, influence, attack with a disease; also, to put to, attach to; f. ad to + facĕre to do, make. The L. frequentative affectāre (see prec.) had also rarely the sense of ‘attack as a disease,’ whence sense 1 might be taken, merely as another branch of the preceding verb; but the others can be referred only to afficĕre. Though all the senses are in mod. Fr., our 1–4 are not in Cotgr. (1611–50), who has only to ‘fasten or tye on; destinate (or bind for); assigne or appoint unto’; whence our sense 5, though this is also a less common use of L. afficĕre (aliquid ad aliquem). It corresponds formally, and in sense partly, to the earlier AFAITE, which was obs. long before the introduction of this.]
1. To attack, lay hold of, act upon contagiously, or attaint (as, or after the manner of, a disease). Rare in the active voice in earlier usage.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., II. ii. 59. And the will dotes that is inclineable To what infectiously it selfe affects.
1722. De Foe, Plague, 77. The inward gangrene affected their vitals.
1782. F. Home, Clin. Exper., 283. Affected with pain in his loins, which affects the thigh-joint.
1881. Daily Tel., 27 Dec. The returning pilgrims … were the means of affecting the people of the districts through which they passed.
† 2. To attaint with a crime or offence: ‘a phrase merely juridical.’ J. Obs.
1726. Ayliffe, Parergon, 59. She shall have alimony … unless you can affect them with Fraud.
3. To lay hold of, impress, or act upon (in mind or feelings); to influence, move, touch.
1662. Fuller, Worthies (1840), III. 159. A passage that affected me with wonder.
1667. Milton, P. L., V. 97. The trouble of thy thoughts this night in sleep Affects me equally.
1722. De Foe, Moll Fl. (1840), 238. When once we are hardened in crime no fear can affect us.
1780. Burke, in Corr. (1844), II. 354. I do not think I have ever on any occasion seemed to affect the House more forcibly.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, vii. 99. The honour paid to her husband had affected her.
1876. Black, Madcap Violet, xviii. 161. The sportsman was not affected with all these taunts and jeers.
4. To make a material impression on; to act upon, influence, move, touch, or have an effect on.
1631. Sanderson, Serm., II. 6. Oils and ointments … affect three distinct senses.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 653. The Sun … so to move, so shine, As might affect the Earth with cold and heat.
1667. Boyle, Orig. Formes & Qual., 26. External bodies being fitted to affect the Eye, others the Ear, others the Nostrils.
1764. Reid, Inq. Hum. Mind, v. § 2. 121. The effluvia of bodies affected our hearing.
1817. Malthus, Population, I. 360. Causes, which affect the number of births or deaths, may or may not affect the average population.
1840. Macaulay, Clive, 70. This system … might affect the amount of the dividends.
1846. Prescott, Ferd. & Isab., I. Introd. 17. No person could be affected in life or property, except by a decision of this court.
1855. Bain, Senses & Intell. (1864), II. i. § 11. 93. Bodily exercise indirectly affects all the organs of the body.
5. To apply specially; to assign, to allot; to attribute. (Only in passive voice, as in mod. Fr., though in 17th c. Fr. active, as in L.)
1611. Cotgr., Nantir, to consigne … to tye fast; affect, appoint, or point out, one thing for th’ indemnitie, or assurance, of another.
1807. W. Taylor, in Ann. Rev., V. 296. Broker is become a nobler designation than formerly, and is now affected to agents of exchange.
1847. Thackeray, Van. Fair, III. viii. One of the domestics was affected to his special service.
1868. M. Pattison, Academ. Organ., § 4. 108. Of our total endowment fund, one, and the smallest third is affected to the promotion of science and learning.
