affiliation

American  

[uh-fil-ee-ey-shuhn] / əˌfɪl iˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

affiliations plural

1. the act of affiliating; state of being affiliated or associated.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interaffiliation
  noun
• nonaffiliation
  noun
• preaffiliation
  noun
• reaffiliation
  noun
• superaffiliation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• affiliations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of affiliation

First recorded in 1745–55; from Medieval Latin affīliātiōn-, stem of affīliātiō “adoption”; equivalent to affiliate + -ion

Explanation

An affiliation is an official connection to something. To have an affiliation to something is to be affiliated with it. The Tea Party pretty clearly has an affiliation with the Republican Party. You can be connected to all sorts of things, but to have an affiliation is to have an official connection. A local church might have an affiliation with a larger religious organization. A bunch of small groups might share an affiliation with a larger one, as in the case of baseball teams and the leagues they belong to. Often you'll hear politicians denying any affiliation with certain groups, places, or companies, because they want to appear neutral. If you have an affiliation with something, you're likely to pay it extra attention.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

affiliation affiliations

We expected immigration positions to tie directly to political affiliation, but results cut across party lines, with 79% of Republicans, 88% of independents and 95% of Democrats in favor.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

To make the videos go viral, Polymarket worked with thousands of low-wage social-media users—often teens based in Asia—to repost the videos from sockpuppet accounts that hid their Polymarket affiliation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

In some cases a director is a co-creator in all but title and union affiliation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026

Repeatedly witnessing harm directed at our own groups, even when we’re not the immediate target, can have a significant psychological impact on people from the same group affiliation.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 16, 2026

With this body of files we could sift and sort through the population of the district by gender, race, ethnicity, party affiliation, occupation.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

"Once the investigations are completed, we will reveal to the public the identities of the cell's members, their roles, and all of their affiliations and connections," he wrote on X.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

Additional company affiliations and potential conflicts of interest are detailed in the published study.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026

“Outside affiliations, investors, or political connections play absolutely no role in the Department’s funding decisions.”

From Salon ● May 31, 2026

The indictment did not reference any alleged gang affiliations or connections to a murder.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026

With Indigenous people from seemingly all over the place— repping hints of their different tribal affiliations in subtle ways—he had hoped to catch someone on staff who was also Native.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Related Words

• connection
• partnership
• relationship