affection

UK: /əˈfɛkʃ^ən/ US: /əˈfɛkʃən/ ,(ə fek′shən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

af•fec•tion¹ /əˈfɛkʃən/   n. 

1. fond attachment, devotion, or love:
   [uncountable] a look of pure affection.
   [countable] You are ever in my affections.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

af•fec•tion¹  (ə fek′shən), n. 

1. fond attachment, devotion, or love:
   the affection of a parent for an only child.
2. Often, affections. 
   • emotion;
     feeling;
     sentiment:
     over and above our reason and affections.
   • the emotional realm of love:
     a place in his affections.
3. [Pathol.] a disease, or the condition of being diseased;
   abnormal state of body or mind:
   a gouty affection.
4. the act of affecting;
   act of influencing or acting upon.
5. the state of being affected.
6. Philosophy a contingent, alterable, and accidental state or quality of being.
7. the affective aspect of a mental process.
8. bent or disposition of mind.
9. [Obs.] bias;
   prejudice.

• Latin affectiōn- (stem of affectiō) disposition or state of mind or body; see affect¹, -ion
• Old French
• Middle English 1200–50

af•fec′tion•less, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. liking, friendliness, amity, fondness, friendship. See love. 

Antonyms

• 1. dislike.

af•fec•tion²  (ə fek′shən), n. [Obs.]

1. affectation (defs. 1–3).

• affect² + -ion 1525–35

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

affection / əˈfɛkʃən/ noun

1. a feeling of fondness or tenderness for a person or thing; attachment
2. (often plural) emotion, feeling, or sentiment: to play on a person's affections
3. any disease or pathological condition
4. any form of mental functioning that involves emotion
   See also affect12
5. the act of affecting or the state of being affected

Etymology: 13th Century: from Latin affectiōn- disposition, from afficere to affect¹

afˈfectional adjective