affiliate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bring into close association or connection of action or interest: You can download resources to affiliate your event with our fundraising campaign.
The research center is affiliated with the university.
You can download resources to affiliate your event with our fundraising campaign.
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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.
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to trace the descent, derivation, or origin of.
Competing hypotheses affiliate the language with either Afroasiatic or Nilo-Saharan.
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to integrate or extend membership to; adopt (as an affiliate).
The National Golf Federation affiliated the club, giving it an immediate prestige.
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to connect or associate in thought.
Many people tend to affiliate the sciences with better pay and job security.
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Law. to fix the paternity of, as an illegitimate child.
The mother affiliated her child upon John Doe.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a branch organization.
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Commerce.
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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.
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(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.
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(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.
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a person who is affiliated; associate; subordinate.
verb
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(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
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(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
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of affiliate
First recorded in 1755–65; from Latin affīliātus “adopted as son” (past participle of affīliāre ), equivalent to af- af- + fīli(us) “son” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
An affiliate is a subordinate group or organization associated with a larger group or organization. For example, the American broadcasting company NBC has hundreds of affiliate stations around the country. Affiliate comes from the Medieval Latin term affiliat, meaning "adopted as a son," though it's unlikely NBC sees its affiliate companies in quite that way. The word can also be used to describe someone who simply hangs out with someone else a lot, or keeps company with them regularly, whether for business or not.
Vocabulary lists containing affiliate
President Obama's Speech on ISIL Threat
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Obama's State of the Union Address, 2014
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President Obama's Address to the Nation on ISIS/ISIL
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Lakers are adding labs for biomechanics, movement and recovery in their El Segundo training facility after moving the G League affiliate South Bay Lakers to the Coachella Valley.
From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2026
Last week, an email sent to a Best Buy affiliate offering instructions about a preorder for GTA VI leaked.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
He has worked at a litany of well-known firms on Wall Street, including Morgan Stanley, Carlyle Group and an affiliate of Apollo Global Management.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
He owns 13 ABC , CBS and NBC network affiliate TV stations in 11 U.S. markets, as well as 10 24-hour HD television networks, according to BuzzFeed’s announcement on Monday.
From MarketWatch • May 11, 2026
My appointment with Farmer was at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
