affiliate

American  

[uh-fil-ee-eyt, uh-fil-ee-it, -eyt] / 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

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

affiliate affiliates affiliated affiliating

Varady is also an affiliate of the University of Illinois Cancer Center.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

Welker, speaking early Sunday to a local NBC affiliate, said Trump would "loom large over these midterms."

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

The airbase where the mutiny began had itself been targeted twice by jihadists this year – once by an Islamic State affiliate and later by an al-Qaeda affiliate.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Pirela, the Padres’ roving catching instructor, was with the organization’s triple-A affiliate in El Paso during its home game Aug. 15 against the Salt Lake City Bees, an Angels affiliate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

After it sponsored a membership drive for the foundering local branch of the NAACP, the civil rights organization grew from 11 to nearly 2,000 members, making it the largest affiliate in the state.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

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

Broadcasters including Sinclair and Nexstar have argued to the FCC that the balance of power between networks and affiliates needs to be realigned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Pathstone and its affiliates may have positions in or provide advisory services related to securities or strategies discussed herein.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates.

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

The researchers are affiliated with Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and Tianjin University in China.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

The company and seven affiliated entities filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

The rescuer who was killed was just 18 years old, according to his civil defence organisation which is affiliated with the Amal movement, a political ally of Hezbollah.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

Iran's Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, said earlier that the attack was carried out by drones.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

I already hate him as much as I hate anything about the Colonies—he’s not affiliated with the Patriots, that’s for sure, but that just makes him more of a coward.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

TXSE’s pitch to companies is that affiliating with the state of Texas is the smart business play.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 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

But some judicial ethics experts criticized the justice for affiliating herself with an advocacy group.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2023

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

Related Words

• branch
• partner