affinity

Meanings

Plural: affinities

Noun

• (immunology) the attraction between an antigen and an antibody
• (anthropology) kinship by marriage or adoption; not a blood relationship
• (biology) state of relationship between organisms or groups of organisms resulting in resemblance in structure or structural parts
  • "in anatomical structure prehistoric man shows close affinity with modern humans"
• a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character
  • "found a natural affinity with the immigrants"
• the force attracting atoms to each other and binding them together in a molecule
  • "basic dyes have an affinity for wool and silk"
• inherent resemblance between persons or things
• a natural attraction or feeling of kinship
  • "an affinity for politics"
  • "the mysterious affinity between them"
  • "James's affinity with Sam"
• A natural attraction or feeling of kinship to a person or thing.
• A family relationship through marriage of a relative (e.g. sister-in-law), as opposed to consanguinity (e.g. sister).
• A kinsman or kinswoman of a such relationship; one who is affinal.
• The fact of and manner in which something is related to another.
• Any romantic relationship.
• A love interest; a paramour.
• Any passionate love for something.
• Resemblances between biological populations, suggesting that they have a common origin, type or stock.
• Structural resemblances between minerals; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin or type.
• An attractive force between atoms, or groups of atoms, that contributes towards their forming bonds.
• The attraction between an antibody and an antigen
• A tendency to keep a task running on the same processor in a symmetric multiprocessing operating system to reduce the frequency of cache misses.
• An automorphism of affine space.

Synonyms

chemical attraction, kinship, phylogenetic relation

Antonyms

consanguinity