[af.fin.i.ty] n, pl -ties [ME affinite, fr. MF or L; MF afinite, fr. L affinitas, fr. affinis bordering on, related by marriage, fr. ad- + finis end, border] (14c) 1: relationship by marriage
2. a: sympathy marked by community of interest: kinship b (1): an attraction to or liking for something "people with an ~ to darkness --Mark Twain" "pork and fennel have a natural ~ for each other --Abby Mandel" (2): an attractive force between substances or particles that causes them to enter into and remain in chemical combination c: a person esp. of the opposite sex having a particular attraction for one 3 a: likeness based on relationship or causal connection "found an ~ between the teller of a tale and the craftsman --Mary McCarthy" "this investigation, with affinities to a case history, a psychoanalysis, a detective story --Oliver Sachs" b: a relation between biological groups involving resemblance in structural plan and indicating a common origin syn see attraction