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Affinity

//əˈfɪnɪti// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a natural attraction or feeling of kinship wordnet
  3. 3
    A family relationship through marriage of a relative (e.g. sister-in-law), as opposed to consanguinity (e.g. sister). countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    inherent resemblance between persons or things wordnet
  5. 5
    A kinsman or kinswoman of a such relationship; one who is affinal. countable, uncountable
Show 15 more definitions
  1. 6
    the force attracting atoms to each other and binding them together in a molecule wordnet
  2. 7
    The fact of and manner in which something is related to another. countable, uncountable

    "There are, of course, certain differences of detail; for example, the placing of the safety valves on the boiler barrel behind the dome, which follows the practice in the Riddles 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 locomotives for the Ministry of Supply; but taken all in all, Britannia's boiler has a closer affinity with the Doncaster designs than with any other."

  3. 8
    (immunology) the attraction between an antigen and an antibody wordnet
  4. 9
    Any romantic relationship. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character wordnet
  6. 11
    A love interest; a paramour. countable, uncountable

    ""Cut it short, sis, cut it short," he would growl at her if she started to murmur sweet "coo-coos" to her affinity stationed on the other end of the wire."

  7. 12
    (biology) state of relationship between organisms or groups of organisms resulting in resemblance in structure or structural parts wordnet
  8. 13
    Any passionate love for something. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    (anthropology) kinship by marriage or adoption; not a blood relationship wordnet
  10. 15
    Resemblances between biological populations, suggesting that they have a common origin, type or stock. countable, uncountable
  11. 16
    Structural resemblances between minerals; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin or type. countable, uncountable
  12. 17
    An attractive force between atoms, or groups of atoms, that contributes towards their forming bonds. countable, uncountable
  13. 18
    The attraction between an antibody and an antigen countable, uncountable
  14. 19
    A tendency to keep a task running on the same processor in a symmetric multiprocessing operating system to reduce the frequency of cache misses. countable, uncountable
  15. 20
    An automorphism of affine space. countable, uncountable

Etymology

From Middle English affinite, from Old French affinité. Ostensibly equivalent to affine + -ity.

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