Affectee

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who undergoes change as a result of external influences or actions
2. A person who is subjected to the consequences or outcomes of specific events or decisions
3. Someone who experiences change due to outside forces or influences

Etymology: "Affectee" is a plain formation: the verb "affect" plus the suffix "-ee," which English uses to name the person who receives an action. A "payee" is the one who is paid and an "employee" is the one who is employed, and "affectee" follows the same pattern, naming whoever is acted upon by something that affects them. The verb "affect" has an older, quite different ancestry. It comes from Latin "afficere," meaning "to act upon" or "to influence," built from "ad-" and "facere," "to do." The "-ee" suffix itself came into English through Anglo-Norman French, where it marked the recipient of an action, which explains why so many legal and commercial terms end this way. The "affectee" formation is a modern convenience rather than a long-established term. Its meaning is transparent from its parts, so it is used mainly where a writer wants a precise label for the person on the receiving end of a policy, change, or event, such as in discussions of the effects of a law or a disease.

Synonyms: victim, subject