late Middle English (in the sense 'attack as a disease'): from French affecter or Latin affect- 'influenced, affected', from the verb afficere (see affect)late Middle English : from French affecter or Latin affectare 'aim at', frequentative of afficere 'work on, influence', from ad- 'at, to' + facere 'do'. The original sense was 'like, love', hence ('like to) use, assume, etc.'late 19th cent.: coined in German from Latin affectus 'disposition', from afficere 'to influence' (see affect)