Affect

6/12/12
affect, n. : Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of the English
language
affect, n.
Pronunciation: Brit. /fkt/ , U.S. /fk(t)/ (in sense 5) Brit.
/afkt/ , U.S. /aefk(t)/
Form s: ME-15 affecte, ME- affect, 16 effect; also Sc. pre-17 affeck, pre-17 effecte .
Ety m ology : < classical Latin affectus mental or emotional state or reaction (especially a temporary
one), phy sical state or condition (especially a pathological one), influence or impression, permanent
mental or moral disposition, eagerness, zeal, dev otion, lov e, intention, purpose, in post-classical Latin
also ev il desire (Vulgate) < afficere AFFECT v. 2+ -tus , suffix forming v erbal nouns. Compare Old French
affect (12th cent.), affet (c1265) desire, passion, Middle French affect state, disposition (16th cent.).
Compare AFFECT v. ,1 AFFECT v. ,
2 and also AFFECTION n.1
In sense 5 after German Affekt (18th cent. in Kant in sense 5a; 187 4 or earlier in sense 5b; 16th cent. in
senses `strong emotion', `desire, inclination'; < Latin).

With the forms effect , effecte compare discussion at EFFECT n.
I. Senses relating to the mind.
1.
a. The manner in which one is inclined or disposed; (also) the capacity
for willing or desiring; a mental state, mood, or emotion, esp. one
regarded as an attribute of a more general state; a feeling, desire,
intention. Obs.
a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 13v,
Aungels..be Ihoue v p in affect [L. affectu] & in wit & Irauy schite to e inmest
contemplacioun of e loue of god.
a1425 (1385) CHAUCER Troilus & Criseyde (1987 ) III. 1391 And therto dronken hadde as hoot
and stronge, As Crassus dide for his affectis wronge.
c147 5 (1445) R. PECOCK Donet 97 Grace of god..is sumty me wiy nfor..oure wil or affect to e
same enformacioun or remembraunce encly ny ng and mov ing.
1528 Rede me & be nott Wrothe sig. i iij, Goode christen men with pure affecte.
1531 T. ELYOT Bk. named Gouernour II. v ii. sig. Qiv, Contrary to his owne affectes and
determinate purposes.
1533 TYNDALE Supper of Lord in Wks. III. 266 God is searcher of heart and reins, thoughts and
affects.
a1586 SIR P. SIDNEY Arcadia (1593) III. sig. Ff5v, Shee gaue a dolefull way e to her bitter Affectes.
1626 BACON Sylva Sylvarum 97 The affects and Passions of the Heart and Spirits, are notably
disclosed by the Pulse.
1666 J. SMITH 151 The principal affect of the mind in Age, is that of fear.
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affect, n. : Oxford English Dictionary

b. An inner disposition or feeling (rather than an external
manifestation or action); intent, intention, earnest, reality. Contrasted
with cheer and effect. Obs.
a1425 (1400) CHAUCER Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 5486 Fully to knowen..Freend of
affect and freend of chere.
c1449 R. PECOCK Repressor (1860) 509 This man oute loue in affect and in effect his owne bodi
more than the bodi of his fadir.
1552 H. LATIMER Serm. Lincoln v ii. 127 Restitution must be made ey ther in effect or affect,
thou must be sorry in thy hart and aske God forgiueness.
1591 J. FLORIO Second Frutes 35, I accept the affect, in lieu of the effect.
1615 T. ADAMS Lycanthropy 6 in Blacke Devill, Reall in his right, in his might: Roy all in his
affects and effects.

c. More generally: a disposition, temper; a natural tendency. Obs.
a1460 tr. Dicts & Sayings Philosophers (Helm.) (1999) 131 Ire, couety se, and other affectes of
the soulle haue a certeigne quantite by the whiche the estate of man is gouerned.
1541 T. ELYOT Image of Gouernance xii. f. 22, To knowe the sundry wy ttes, maners, affectes,
and study es of men.
1591 R. GREENE Notable Discouery of Coosenage To Rdr. sig. B, Time refineth mens affectes.
1598 SHAKESPEARE Love's Labour's Lost I. i. 149 For euery man with his affectes is borne.
1606 L. BRYSKETT Disc. Civill Life 50 Plato..distinguisheth these two affects, into both these
faculties of the soule.
1613 Uncasing of Machivils Instr. 5 Be temperate in affect, sober in talke.
2.

a. Feeling towards or in favour of a person or thing; kindly feeling,
affection; (also) an instance of this. Obs.
1440 Promp. Parv. (Harl. 221) 7 Affecte, or welwy lly nge, affectus.
1543 T. BECON Policy War in Wks. (1843) 234 Her priv ate affect toward her children.
1587 J. HOOKER tr. Giraldus Cambrensis Vaticinall Hist. Conquest Ireland 55/1 in Holinshed's
Chron. (new ed.) II, Vtterlie v oid of that affect, which is naturallie ingraffed in man.
1596 SOUTHWELL (title) Consolatorie epistle for afflicted minds, in the affects of dy ing friends.
1597 SHAKESPEARE Richard II I. iv . 29 Wooing poore craftsmen, with the craft of smiles..As
twere to banish their affects with him.
1633 J. FORD Loves Sacrifice I. sig. C3, Madam, I obserue In y our affects a thing to me most
strange.

b. Biased feeling, partiality. Obs.
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affect, n. : Oxford English Dictionary
a1547 EARL OF SURREY Poems (1964) 27 An ey e, whose judgement none affect could blinde.

3. A desire or appetite; spec. a passion, lust, or evil desire. Obs.
1531 T. ELYOT Bk. named Gouernour II. ix. sig. Qv iiiv, Temperance..is the moderatrice..of all
motions of the minde, called affectes.
1545 G. JOYE Expos. Daniel (iv .) f. 52, These flaterers so ny ghe them in fauour feding their
affectis.
1591 R. GREENE Maidens Dreame xxv , He bridled those affects that might offend.
1619 T. MIDDLETON Inner-Temple Masque in Wks. V. 144 No doubt Affects will be subdued with
reason.

4. An affectation, a trick. Obs.
1588 A. FRAUNCE Lawiers Logike I. v . f. 31v, This were an affect of an extemporall Rhetor to
salute a man by name without premeditation.
5.

a. Philos. An emotional, unreflective response. Obs.
17 99 tr. I. Kant Metaphysic of Morals Introd. p. xlv ii, Affects and passions are essentially
distinct from one another [Ger. Affecten und Leidenschaften sind wesentlich von
einander unterschieden], the former belong to feeling, so far as it, preceding reflection,
renders it more difficult, or ev en impossible.
1885 G. LONG Disc. Epictetus p. xxxv i, The affects of the mind (v isa animi), which philosophers
name , by which a man's mind is struck by the first appearance of a thing which
approaches.

b. Psychol. (and Psychiatry). A feeling or subjective experience
accompanying a thought or action or occurring in response to a
stimulus; an emotion, a mood. In later use also (usu. as a mass noun):
the outward display of emotion or mood, as manifested by facial
expression, posture, gestures, tone of voice, etc.
1891 J. M. BALDWIN Handbk. Psychol. II. 314 Affects..are the feeling antecedents of
inv oluntary mov ements; as motiv es, including affects, are the inner antecedents of acts of
will.
1894 W. JAMES Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 358 We may also feel a general seizure of excitement,
which Wundt, Lehmann, and other German writers call an Affect, and which is what I hav e
all along meant by an emotion.
1923 Weekly Westm. Gaz. 24 Mar. 181 Their psy chic liv es are ov erfull of complexes, lev els
and affects.
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6/12/12
affect, n. : Oxford English Dictionary
1926 W. MCDOUGALL Outl. Abnormal Psychol. 26 The terms `affect' and `affectiv e' denote the
emotional-conativ e aspect of all mental activ ity .
1953 Sociometry 16 263 The perception of affect within 10-man groups is surprisingly
accurate,..which suggests that perceptual behav ior is..based on a v alid assessment of the
feelings of others.
197 4 R. B. PARKER Godwulf Manuscript v ii. 53 Like Terry , he showed no affect. No response to
stimulus. It was as though he'd shut down.
2002 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 115 30 The experiences and emotions that are `brought back' to life
in response to olfactory clues may be illusions resulting from the affect that olfaction
induces.
II. Senses relating to the body.
1

6. An abnormal state of the body; a disease or disorder; = AFFECTION n.
7. Obs.
?1537 T. ELYOT Castell of Helthe III. iv . f. 55v, It [sc. v omy te] amendeth the affectis of the
ray nes.
1563 T. GALE Certaine Wks. Chirurg. IV. II. f. 8v, Very precious in burnings and scaldings and
ly ke affectes.
1600 R. SURFLET tr. C. Estienne & J. Liebault Maison Rustique II. xlix. 312 It is of great v se for
the affects of the lungs.
167 9 tr. T. Willis Pharmaceutice Rationalis in Blount Nat. Hist. (1693) 112 Who presently after
drinking Coffee became worse as to those Affects.
17 32 G. SMITH Institutiones Chirurgicae I. iii. 37 In schirous Affects v arious (and often unlook'd
for) Sy mptoms occur, for which Cause the medicaments are to be adequated to the
different Sy mptoms of the Affects and Variety of the Causes.
17 93 S. O'HALLORAN New Treat. Different Disorders Head v iii. 119 The sy mptoms of affects of
this kind, are a depriv ation of the animal faculties, with a strong, regular, and slow pulse.

7. gen. The manner in which something is physically affected or
disposed; spec. the actual state or disposition of the body. Obs.
1605 BACON Of Aduancem. Learning II. sig. Kk1v, How Farre The Hv mov rs And Affects Of The
Bodie, Doe Alter Or Worke Vpon The Mind.
1626 BACON Sylva Sylvarum 835 The true passages and processes and affects and
consistencies of matter and natural bodies.
1637 T. BRIAN Pisse-prophet i. 4 The sy mptomes and affects of the sick partie.
COMPOUNDS

(In sense 5b.) Psychol. (and Psychiatry). General attrib.
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affect, n. : Oxford English Dictionary
1913 Mod. Treatm. Nerv. & Mental Dis. 1 536 In dealing with the affect psy choses we must start
with four general premises.
1920 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 26 338 If a giv en state of affairs thwarts or fails to giv e an expression
to some nativ e instincts of an indiv idual, we hav e at once..a congestion of wishes (affect-
laden complexes).
1935 L. BRINK tr. Stekel Sadism & Masochism I. iv . 60 All sadomasochists are affect-hungry
indiv iduals.
1943 Horizon 8 27 1 The personality , rich in affect-life.
1944 Mind 53 180 The dream-process is an affect-regulativ e mechanism.
1949 A. KOESTLER Insight & Outlook v . 68 The affect-amplify ing emergency -mechanisms of the
sy mpathico-adrenal sy stem became gradually superfluous.
1958 Listener 17 July 93/2 These areas of the brain..hav e come to be known as the `pleasure'
centres and `pain' centres... Perhaps it would be best to call them the `affect' sy stems.
1965 J. POLLITT Depression & its Treatm. ii. 23 This account of one v iew of psy chopathology of
depression, based mainly on a disturbance of the affect-memory sy stem is intended to giv e
an impression of the world in which the depressed person liv es.
197 0 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. 83 5 Rhine also furthers his analy sis to the affect-arousal components
that certain v erbal mediators may ev entually elicit.
2002 Jrnl. Head Trauma Rehabilitation 17 526 Patients were best classified by poor
performance on measures of affect disturbance and impaired awareness.
affect, n.
Third edition, March 2008; online version June 2012. <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/3321>; accessed 12
June 2012. An entry for this word was first included in New English Dictionary, 1884.
Oxford University Press
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