affinity

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English affinite, from Old French affinité. Ostensibly equivalent to affine +‎ -ity. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /əˈfɪnɪti/ === Noun === affinity (countable and uncountable, plural affinities) 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. (taxonomy) Resemblances between biological populations, suggesting that they have a common origin, type or stock. (geology) Structural resemblances between minerals; resemblances that suggest that they are of a common origin or type. (chemistry) An attractive force between atoms, or groups of atoms, that contributes towards their forming bonds. (medicine) The attraction between an antibody and an antigen (computing) A tendency to keep a task running on the same processor in a symmetric multiprocessing operating system to reduce the frequency of cache misses. (geometry) An automorphism of affine space. ==== Hyponyms ==== microaffinity ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ====