affect
Meaning
To produce a change in someone or something.
To pretend to have or feel something.
Structure
Usage
The cold weather began to affect her health.
He tried to affect an air of confidence during the interview.
The teacher's encouragement positively affected the student's performance.
Etymology
The word 'affect' originates from the Latin verb 'afficere', which is a compound of 'ad-' ('to') and 'facere' ('to do, make'). Its literal sense was 'to do something to, to act upon'. This meaning evolved through Old French 'affecter' into Middle English, retaining the core idea of producing an influence or change. The psychological sense of 'to touch the feelings of' developed in the 14th century, while the secondary meaning of 'to put on a pretense of' arose from the notion of assuming a manufactured or 'made' manner.
Analysis
'af-' is an English spelling variant of the Latin prefix 'ad-', meaning 'to, towards'. '-fect' is from the Latin root 'facere', meaning 'to make, to do'.