Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To adopt or accept as a member, subordinate associate, or branch.
  • intransitive verb To associate (oneself) as a subordinate, subsidiary, employee, or member.
  • intransitive verb To assign the origin of.
  • intransitive verb To become closely connected or associated.
  • noun A person, organization, or establishment associated with another as a subordinate, subsidiary, or member.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Occupying the position of or recognized as an adopted son; affiliated.
  • noun An affiliated person or institution, etc.
  • To adopt; receive into a family as a son or daughter; hence, to bring into intimate association or close connection.
  • In law, to fix the paternity of, as a bastard child: with upon: as, the mother affiliated her child upon John Doe.
  • To connect in the way of descent or derivation: with upon.
  • To associate; receive or establish on terms of fellowship.
  • To associate; consort; be intimately united in action or interest.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To connect or associate one's self; -- followed by with.
  • transitive verb To adopt; to receive into a family as a son; hence, to bring or receive into close connection; to ally.
  • transitive verb To fix the paternity of; -- said of an illegitimate child.
  • transitive verb To connect in the way of descent; to trace origin to.
  • transitive verb To attach (to) or unite (with); to receive into a society as a member, and initiate into its mysteries, plans, etc.; -- followed by to or with.
  • transitive verb societies connected with a central society, or with each other.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Someone or something that is affiliated, or associated; a member of a group of associated things.
  • verb transitive To adopt; to receive into a family as a son; hence, to bring or receive into close connection; to ally.
  • verb transitive To fix the paternity of; — said of an illegitimate child; as, to affiliate the child to (or on or upon) one man rather than another.
  • verb transitive To connect in the way of descent; to trace origin to.
  • verb intransitive To attach (to) or unite (with); to receive into a society as a member, and initiate into its mysteries, plans, etc.; — followed by to or with.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a subordinate or subsidiary associate; a person who is affiliated with another or with an organization
  • verb keep company with; hang out with
  • verb join in an affiliation
  • noun a subsidiary or subordinate organization that is affiliated with another organization

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin affīliāre, to adopt : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin fīlius, son; see dhē(i)- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Late Latin adfiliare, affiliare ("to adopt as son"); ad + filius ("son"): compare French affilier.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word affiliate.

Examples

  • It comes as no surprise that these "spammers," primarily affiliate marketing sites (the report makes no mention of the term affiliate marketing, by the way), create free-hosted sites and load them up with Google AdSense ads which provide them with revenue each time a user clicks them.

    ClickZ News 2009

  • It comes as no surprise that these "spammers," primarily affiliate marketing sites (the report makes no mention of the term affiliate marketing, by the way), create free-hosted sites and load them up with Google AdSense ads which provide them with revenue each time a user clicks them.

    ClickZ News Blog 2009

  • It comes as no surprise that these "spammers," primarily affiliate marketing sites (the report makes no mention of the term affiliate marketing, by the way), create free-hosted sites and load them up with Google AdSense ads which provide them with revenue each time a user clicks them.

    ClickZ News Blog 2009

  • It comes as no surprise that these "spammers," primarily affiliate marketing sites (the report makes no mention of the term affiliate marketing, by the way), create free-hosted sites and load them up with Google AdSense ads which provide them with revenue each time a user clicks them.

    ClickZ News Blog 2009

  • Just what are the things needed to be able to succeed in affiliate marketing?

    Id Serenity | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • There is a lot of competition involved in affiliate marketing, and to be able to rise above the norm, one must be equipped with just the right stuff necessary to propel him forward.

    Id Serenity | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • This program holds four tiers of community membership, of which affiliate is third.

    2009 September « Beachwood Historical Alliance 2009

  • The very first quality one must possess if he wants to try his hand in affiliate marketing is the willingness to learn and be trained.

    Id Serenity | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • So, this affiliate is going after the FauxSnooze viewer demographic?

    Think Progress » Tennessee Mosque Vandalized After Local TV Station Airs Irresponsible Report On ‘Homegrown Jihad’ 2010

  • A spokesman for PWC said its affiliate is a separate entity and has sole responsibility for its audits.

    U.S. and Afghans at odds over Kabul Bank reform Joshua Partlow 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.