afford
[uh-fawrd, uh-fohrd]
- to be able to do, manage, or bear without serious consequence or adverse effect: The country can't afford another drought.
- to be able to meet the expense of; have or be able to spare the price of: Can we afford a trip to Europe this year? The city can easily afford to repair the street.
- to be able to give or spare: He can't afford the loss of a day.
- to furnish; supply: The transaction afforded him a good profit.
- to be capable of yielding or providing: The records afford no explanation.
- to give or confer upon: to afford great pleasure to someone.
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Origin of afford
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for affords
Contemporary Examples
Part of the experience with any tobacco is the relationship it affords with time.
Is it pompous to wonder why, as a working journalist, Wikipedia affords the other guy that title?
What a majority of Israelis support is the principle of separation that the “two-state solution” affords.
Running Hyde Park in the early morning affords a blend of sights, sounds, and, yes, smells.
He will take them into the lighthouse and up the spiral staircase to the top, which affords a spectacular view of the Arabian Sea.
Historical Examples
This Causse affords some interesting facts for evolutionists.
The Roof of FranceMatilda Betham-Edwards
Yet, today, it hardly more than affords me room to roost on.
Welsh Fairy TalesWilliam Elliott Griffis
It affords an adequate idea of the march of facts and of ideas.
Initiation into PhilosophyEmile Faguet
My present situation, I am sure, thought I, affords a sad evidence of this truth!
Clarissa, Volume 3 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
The present affords just cause for satisfaction; the future is bright with hope.
Latin America and the United StatesElihu Root
afford
- (preceded by can, could, etc) to be able to do or spare something, esp without incurring financial difficulties or without risk of undesirable consequenceswe can afford to buy a small house; I can afford to give you one of my chess sets; we can't afford to miss this play
- to give, yield, or supplythe meeting afforded much useful information
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Word Origin
Old English geforthian to further, promote, from forth forth; the Old English prefix ge- was later reduced to a-, and the modern spelling (C16) is influenced by words beginning aff-
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for affords
afford
v.
Old English geforðian "to put forth, contribute; further, advance; carry out, accomplish," from ge- completive prefix (see a- (1)) + forðian "to further," from forð "forward, onward" (see forth).
Change of -th- to -d- took place late 16c. (and also transformed burthen and murther into their modern forms). Prefix shift to af- took place 16c. under mistaken belief that it was a Latin word in ad-. Notion of "accomplish" (late Old English) gradually became "manage to buy or maintain; have enough money (to do something)" (1833). Older sense is preserved in afford (one) an opportunity. Related: Afforded; affording.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper