affiliate

[ verb uh-fil-ee-eyt; noun uh-fil-ee-it, -eyt ]
See synonyms for affiliate on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),af·fil·i·at·ed, af·fil·i·at·ing.
  1. to bring into close association or connection of action or interest: The research center is affiliated with the university.You can download resources to affiliate your event with our fundraising campaign.

  2. to attach or unite (oneself or another person) in fellowship or membership; associate (usually followed by with in U.S. usage, by to in British usage): He affiliated himself with almost every group dedicated to improving the economic condition of the individual farmer.Some of the Greek mixed-faith families affiliated their children to Orthodox Christianity, others to Islam.

  1. to trace the descent, derivation, or origin of: Competing hypotheses affiliate the language with either Afroasiatic or Nilo-Saharan.

  2. to integrate or extend membership to; adopt (as an affiliate): The National Golf Federation affiliated the club, giving it an immediate prestige.

  3. to connect or associate in thought: Many people tend to affiliate the sciences with better pay and job security.

  4. Law. to fix the paternity of, as an illegitimate child: The mother affiliated her child upon John Doe.

verb (used without object),af·fil·i·at·ed, af·fil·i·at·ing.
  1. to associate oneself; be intimately united in action or interest:Our health advocacy group affiliates with hospitals equipped with the best facilities.

noun
  1. a branch organization.

  2. Commerce.

    • a business concern in which a larger concern owns a minority stake, or in which a third concern, the parent of both, owns a majority stake or has been given control by contract: The video was reportedly broadcast on STV, an affiliate of Global Television, on September 30, 1999.

    • (especially in online retail) a company that retails goods on behalf of one or more other companies, paying them a commission: Cookies are used to track a customer's progress from the website of the affiliate through to the shopping cart of the merchant.

    • (in U.S. tax law) subsidiary: Development Tax Credits are not available for property owned by the taxpayer or an affiliate prior to July 3, 2000.

  1. a person who is affiliated; associate; subordinate.

Origin of affiliate

1
First recorded in 1755–65; from Latin affīliātus “adopted as son” (past participle of affīliāre ), equivalent to af- af- + fīli(us) “son” + -ātus -ate1

Other words from affiliate

  • af·fil·i·a·ble [uh-fil-ee-uh-buhl], /əˈfɪl i ə bəl/, adjective
  • af·fil·i·a·tive [uh-fil-ee-ey-tiv, -fil-ee-uh-], /əˈfɪl iˌeɪ tɪv, -ˈfɪl i ə-/, adjective
  • non·af·fil·i·ate, noun
  • non·af·fil·i·at·ing, adjective
  • pre·af·fil·i·ate, noun
  • pre·af·fil·i·ate, verb, pre·af·fil·i·at·ed, pre·af·fil·i·at·ing.
  • re·af·fil·i·ate, verb, re·af·fil·i·at·ed, re·af·fil·i·at·ing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for affiliate

affiliate

verb(əˈfɪlɪˌeɪt)
  1. (tr; foll by to or with) to receive into close connection or association (with a larger body, group, organization, etc); adopt as a member, branch, etc

  2. (foll by with) to associate (oneself) or be associated, esp as a subordinate or subsidiary; bring or come into close connection: he affiliated himself with the Union

noun(əˈfɪlɪɪt, -ˌeɪt)
    • a person or organization that is affiliated with another

    • (as modifier): an affiliate member

Origin of affiliate

1
C18: from Medieval Latin affīliātus adopted as a son, from affīlīare, from Latin filius son

Derived forms of affiliate

  • affiliation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012