affiliate

American  

[uh-fil-ee-ayt, uh-fil-ee-it, -ayt] / əˈfɪl iˌeɪt, əˈfɪl i ɪt, -ˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• affiliates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• affiliated,
  past participle,  past
• affiliating
  present participle

1. 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.

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.

3. to trace the descent, derivation, or origin of.

   Competing hypotheses affiliate the language with either Afroasiatic or Nilo-Saharan.

4. to integrate or extend membership to; adopt (as an affiliate).

   The National Golf Federation affiliated the club, giving it an immediate prestige.

5. to connect or associate in thought.

   Many people tend to affiliate the sciences with better pay and job security.

6. Law. to fix the paternity of, as an illegitimate child.

   The mother affiliated her child upon John Doe.

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verb (used without object)

• affiliates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• affiliated,
  past participle,  past
• affiliating
  present participle

1. to associate oneself; be intimately united in action or interest.

   Our health advocacy group affiliates with hospitals equipped with the best facilities.

noun

• affiliates
  plural

1. a branch organization.

2. Commerce.

   1. 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.

   2. (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.

   3. (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.

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

affiliate British  

verb

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

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noun

1. 1. a person or organization that is affiliated with another

   2. ( as modifier )

      an affiliate member

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• affiliation
  noun
• nonaffiliate
  noun
• preaffiliate
  noun
• preaffiliate
  verb
• reaffiliate
  verb
• affiliable
  adjective
• affiliative
  adjective
• nonaffiliating
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• affiliates
  plural

Participles

• affiliating
  present
• affiliated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• affiliate
  simple
• affiliates
  simple
• have affiliated
  perfect
• has affiliated
  perfect
• am affiliating
  progressive
• are affiliating
  progressive
• is affiliating
  progressive
• have been affiliating
  perfect progressive
• has been affiliating
  perfect progressive

Past

• affiliated
  simple
• had affiliated
  perfect
• was affiliating
  progressive
• were affiliating
  progressive
• had been affiliating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will affiliate
  simple
• will have affiliated
  perfect
• will be affiliating
  progressive
• will have been affiliating
  perfect progressive

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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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

affiliate affiliates affiliated affiliating

Giamanco's mother told the local Fox affiliate she was "very proud" and that her son was "an absolute hero."

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

She initially didn’t want to report: “I’d always considered myself a strong person, and so I was embarrassed,” she told a local ABC affiliate in a video interview.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026

College-age affiliate marketers may be shifting toward Amazon and ShopMy, and away from Shein and malls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The L.A. native was the Portland Trail Blazers’ player development coach and the assistant general manager of the team’s G League affiliate Rip City Remix.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

Leading the Future has raised more than $75 million, and its Democratic and Republican affiliates have spent a total of about $34 million, according to data as of Thursday from the Tech Oversight Project.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

The spots aired in the commercial breaks for local Fox TV affiliates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

The Boring Company on Thursday said it had closed a Series D financing round led by the United Arab Emirates and its affiliates that values the company at $23 billion.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Last year, ABC temporarily suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after Carr publicly suggested broadcasters could face consequences over Kimmel’s comments and encouraged affiliates to push back against the network.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

State and local affiliates dissociated from the National and formed new groups.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

The Program on Extremism has identified 83 American adults who traveled to Syria or Iraq since 2011 and were affiliated with jihadist groups there.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

The firms said they discovered the extent of their affiliated investments after coming under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

In 2014, two policyholders brought a class-action lawsuit against Guggenheim Partners, where he is chief executive, and several affiliated insurers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Arthur Dogariu, affiliated with Texas A&M University and Princeton University, co-authored the research and contributed to the experimental measurements.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026

The original organization, the Farmers' Alliance, was for whites only, but an affiliated Colored Farm Alliance was soon started and quickly attracted more than one million members.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Its pitch to companies is that by affiliating with Texas, you’ll be rewarded.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

While still being formulated, it is thought the proposal could involve a local administration of technocrats drawn from Palestinians in Gaza, without affiliating to factions including Hamas.

From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2025

Unaffiliated voters must sign a document affiliating with the party and affirming that they have not participated in any other party’s nominating contest this year.

From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2024

According to a 2022 study, Latinos are more likely to be Democrats than non-Latinos are, with 45% of Latinos affiliating with the Democratic Party, compared with 28% of non-Latinos.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2022

But what economically affluent group was ever consistently radical, affiliating itself with the aspirations of the poor?

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

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Related Words

• branch
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