Affinis

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or connected with something else in a close manner
2. being similar or having a relationship with a particular subject or entity
3. denoting a state of being allied or associated in function or purpose

Etymology: Latin "affinis" meant "bordering on" or "neighbouring", built from "ad" ("to") and "finis" ("end, boundary"), so its literal sense was "touching at the border". The idea of a shared edge gradually widened into kinship by marriage: a person's "affines" were the relatives they gained through marriage rather than through blood, the family of one's spouse. From that social sense came the notion of two things being joined by a close link. English took the word directly from Latin in the sense of a relationship by marriage, and the broader meaning of connection or close relation developed alongside it. The adjective now describes things that are closely related or linked in some way. Its sibling words in English, such as "affinity" (a natural liking or close resemblance), come from the same Latin root, and the noun's meaning of a chemical attraction between substances came later, drawn from the same idea of two things drawn close together.

Synonyms: related, akin, similar, connected

Antonyms: unrelated, dissimilar, different, distant