affinity

/əˈfɪnɪti/

//əˈfɪnɪti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"affinity" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“affinity” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,723 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#12,723
frequency rank, English
8
letters
10
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing.

Key facts for affinity
PropertyValue
Headwordaffinity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈfɪnɪti/
Letters8
Frequency rank#12,723
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “affinity” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). affinity lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for affinity is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈfɪnɪti/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,723 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for affinity, with forms such as "affiinty", "affinitty", and "affinityy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English affinite, from Old French affinité. Ostensibly equivalent to affine + -ity. The correct English form is affinity, spelled A-F-F-I-N-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing.
  2. 2
    A family relationship through marriage of a relative (e.g. sister-in-law), as opposed to consanguinity (e.g. sister).
  3. 3
    A kinsman or kinswoman of a such relationship; one who is affinal.
  4. 4
    The fact of and manner in which something is related to another.
  5. 5
    Any romantic relationship.
  6. 6
    A love interest; a paramour.
  7. 7
    Any passionate love for something.
  8. 8
    Resemblances between biological populations, suggesting that they have a common origin, type or stock.
  9. 9
    Structural resemblances between minerals; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin or type.
  10. 10
    An attractive force between atoms, or groups of atoms, that contributes towards their forming bonds.
  11. 11
    The attraction between an antibody and an antigen
  12. 12
    A tendency to keep a task running on the same processor in a symmetric multiprocessing operating system to reduce the frequency of cache misses.
  13. 13
    An automorphism of affine space.

Etymology

From Middle English affinite, from Old French affinité. Ostensibly equivalent to affine + -ity.

This word in other languages

afinidad(Español)affinité(Français)Affinität(Deutsch)afinidade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: affiinty,affinitty,affinityy,affiniyt,affinnity,affintiy,affniity,afifnity,afinity,fafinity

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of affinity - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

affiinty2affinitty1affinityy1affiniyt2affinnity1affintiy2affniity2afifnity2
Edit distance from "affinity"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "affinity"?
"affinity" is spelled A-F-F-I-N-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈfɪnɪti/.
What does "affinity" mean?
As a noun, "affinity" means: A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing.
What are common misspellings of "affinity"?
Common misspellings include "affiinty", "affinitty", "affinityy", "affiniyt", "affinnity". The correct spelling is "affinity".
How do you pronounce "affinity"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "affinity" is /əˈfɪnɪti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "affinity"?
From Middle English affinite, from Old French affinité. Ostensibly equivalent to affine + -ity. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “affinity”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is A-F-F-I-N-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /əˈfɪnɪti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list