affinity
/əˈfɪnɪti/noun
affinity is spelled A-F-F-I-N-I-T-Y: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, affinity means “A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of affinity is affinities.
How many letters and syllables are in affinity?
| Letters | 8: A-F-F-I-N-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is affinity?
Affinity appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce affinity?
- /əˈfɪnɪti/
Affinity has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-affinity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of affinity
- affinities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does affinity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing.
- 2
A family relationship through marriage of a relative (e.g. sister-in-law), as opposed to consanguinity (e.g. sister).
- 3
A kinsman or kinswoman of a such relationship; one who is affinal.
- 4
The fact of and manner in which something is related to another.
- 5
Any romantic relationship.
- 6
A love interest; a paramour.
- 7
Any passionate love for something.
- 8
Resemblances between biological populations, suggesting that they have a common origin, type or stock.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Affinity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | affinité |
| German | Affinität , Verwandtschaft, Schwägerschaft |
| Portuguese | afinidade , afim |
| Spanish | afinidad, apegamiento, inhesión |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does affinity come from?
From Middle English affinite, from Old French affinité. Ostensibly equivalent to affine + -ity. See also af-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).