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

The insurers, Delaware Life Insurance and its affiliate Clear Spring Life and Annuity, disclosed the investigations in June regulatory filings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

She expects the company’s stake in U.S.-based robotics affiliate Boston Dynamics to rise to 12.5% from 11.3% if the group exercises its call option to buy a 9.65% stake from SoftBank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

What’s more depressing is that a research biologist interviewed by KING-TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate, stated that the beached whales people have encountered likely represent only a quarter to a fifth of the total death toll.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Brands that don’t directly review TikTok Shop affiliate content may also be unaware of how they’re showing up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

It was a representative from Gypsy Oil Company, an affiliate of Gulf Oil, who was sitting with a map spread on his knees, not looking up as he spoke.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

While behind bars, Chey cemented his power over SK’s controlling company through the merger of two SK affiliates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado introduced a motion asking the police commission not to enter any further contracts with Flock or its affiliates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

To take part in any leadership contest, Carns would need to secure the nominations of 81 Labour MPs, and further endorsements from Labour affiliates such as trade unions.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

In a statement to AFP, a Polymarket spokesman said company guidelines "explicitly prohibit affiliates from providing misleading or false information and we will continue to monitor and ensure compliance with our paid contributors."

From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 2026

I'm emailing folks at CNN, MSNBC, the networks, local and regional affiliates.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

Talley denied that Quintero is affiliated with the Mexican Mafia, a group of about 140 men who control most Latino gangs in Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Delaware Life, which earlier had stated affiliated investments amounted to only about $1 billion, or 3% of its portfolio, increased that number to $16 billion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

In March, developers affiliated with China's Alibaba found one of their models trying, on its own initiative, to mine cryptocurrency after connecting without authorization to an outside server.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

He still requires the backing of three organisations affiliated to the Labour Party, at least two of which must be trade unions, although this is expected to be a formality.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Most innovations in the field of child safety are affiliated with— shock of shocks—a new product to be marketed.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

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

In May, both A.L.U. factions visited the Teamsters headquarters in Washington, where Teamsters officials pitched them on the idea of affiliating, Mr. Smalls said.

From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024

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 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