# affection

> English word · Noun · IPA /əˈfɛk.ʃən/ · frequency rank #8,003

## Definitions
1. The act of affecting or acting upon.
2. The state of being affected, especially: a change in, or alteration of, the emotional state of a person or other animal, caused by a subjective affect (a subjective feeling or emotion), which arises in response to a stimulus which may result from either thought or perception.
3. An attribute; a quality or property; a condition.
4. An emotion; a feeling or natural impulse acting upon and swaying the mind.
5. A feeling of love or strong attachment.
6. A disease; a morbid symptom; a malady.

## Etymology
From Middle English affection, affeccion, affeccioun, from Old French affection, from Latin affectiōnem, from affectiō; equivalent to affect + -ion.

## Easily confused with
- **affective** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/affection-vs-affective)
- **affliction** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/affection-vs-affliction)
- **affections** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/affection-vs-affections)
- **affecting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/affecting-vs-affection)

## Common misspellings (12)
`afection`, `afefction`, `affcetion`, `affecction`, `affeciton`, `affecsion`, `affectino`, `affectionn`, `affectoin`, `affecttion`, `affetcion`, `fafection`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/affection