affinitas

Latin

Alternative forms

• adfīnitās

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd

Proto-Italic *ad

Latin ad

Latin fīnis

Latin affīnis

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ts

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts

Proto-Italic *-tāts

Latin -tās

Latin affīnitās

From affīnis + -tās.

Noun

affīnitās f (genitive affīnitātis); third declension

1. relationship or alliance by marriage; kinship
   • 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 246–247:

     PAMPHILUS: Prō deum atque hominum fidem! / Nūllōn ego Chremētis pactō affīnitātem effugere poterō?

     PAMPHILUS: By the faith of gods and men! / Is there no way for me to escape the kinship of Chremes?
     (In other words, Pamphilus desperately wants to avoid having an arranged marriage to the daughter of Chremes.)

2. relationship, affinity, union, connection

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	affīnitās	affīnitātēs
genitive	affīnitātis	affīnitātum
dative	affīnitātī	affīnitātibus
accusative	affīnitātem	affīnitātēs
ablative	affīnitāte	affīnitātibus
vocative	affīnitās	affīnitātēs

Descendants

• Catalan: afinitat
• English: affinity
• French: affinité
• Italian: affinità
• Portuguese: afinidade
• Romanian: afinitate
• Spanish: afinidad

References

• “affinitas”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “affinitas”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.