different between predilection vs affinity

English

Alternative forms

• prædilection (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from French prédilection.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p?i?.d??l?k.?n?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p??.d??l?k.?n?/
• Rhymes: -?k??n

Noun

predilection (countable and uncountable, plural predilections)

1. A condition of favoring or liking; a tendency towards; proclivity; predisposition.
   • 1967, Flann O’Brien, The Third Policeman, ch. 2,

     A row of houses he regards as a row of necessary evils. The softening and degeneration of the human race he attributes to its progressive predilection for interiors and waning interest in the art of going out and staying there.

   • 1987, Edwin M. Yoder Jr., "Lewis Powell a Fine Sense of Balance," Washington Post, 29 Jun.,

     But for him the first rule of judging was to set aside personal predilection and vote the law and the facts.

   • 2000, Terry McCarthy, "Lost Generation," Time Asia, 23 Oct.,

     ... youth’s predilection for revolt.

   • 2001, Marina Cantacuzino, "On deadly ground," The Guardian, 13 Mar.,

     Wilson doesn’t see any inconsistency between his socialism and his predilection for the high life.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:predilection

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??f?n?ti/

Etymology

From Old French affinité.

Noun

affinity (countable and uncountable, plural affinities)

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.
   • 1997, Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 67, The Renaissance Episteme (Totem Books, Icon Books; ?ISBN:

     A “signature” was placed on all things by God to indicate their affinities — but it was hidden, hence the search for arcane knowledge. Knowing was guessing and interpreting, not observing or demonstrating.

5. Any romantic relationship.
6. Any passionate love for something.
7. (taxonomy) resemblances between biological populations; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin, type or stock.
8. (geology) structural resemblances between minerals; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin or type.
9. (chemistry) An attractive force between atoms, or groups of atoms, that contributes towards their forming bonds
10. (medicine) The attraction between an antibody and an antigen
11. (computing) tendency to keep a task running on the same processor in a symmetric multiprocessing operating system to reduce the frequency of cache misses
12. (geometry) An automorphism of affine space.

Hyponyms

• microaffinity

Derived terms

Translations