Affects

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause a change in or influence something or someone ; to adopt a behavior or attitude in a way that is not natural
2. To have an impact on or modify the state of something ; to simulate or feign a manner or feeling
3. To alter or modify a condition or mood ; to deliberately assume an appearance or conduct for effect

Etymology: Latin "afficere" meant "to act upon" or "to influence," built from "ad-" ("to") and "facere" ("to make, do"), so the core idea was doing something to someone or something. From its participle stem, Latin formed "affectare," meaning "to strive after, aim to do, pursue, imitate with dissimulation, feign." That last sense, pretending or putting on a show, is the one that survives in the verb's second meaning, and it passed into English through Middle French "affecter" ("feign") and Anglo-Norman. English borrowed the word as "affecten" in the Middle English period, and it came to carry both senses: to act upon a condition or mood, and to assume an appearance or manner for effect. The modern verb keeps this split. "Affect" in the sense of influencing something ("the weather affects my mood") descends from the original Latin meaning of acting upon, while "affect" meaning to put on a pose ("he affected an air of boredom") descends from the frequentative sense of striving and feigning.

Synonyms: influences, impacts, shapes, alters, changes

Antonyms: ignores, overlooks, neglects, dismisses, disregards