The Collaborative International Dictionary
Affiliate \Af*fil"i*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Affiliated; p. pr. & vb. n. Affiliating.] [LL. adfiliare, affiliare, to adopt as son; ad + filius son: cf. F. affilier.]
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To adopt; to receive into a family as a son; hence, to bring or receive into close connection; to ally.
Is the soul affiliated to God, or is it estranged and in rebellion?
--I. Taylor. To fix the paternity of; -- said of an illegitimate child; as, to affiliate the child to (or on or upon) one man rather than another.
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To connect in the way of descent; to trace origin to.
How do these facts tend to affiliate the faculty of hearing upon the aboriginal vegetative processes?
--H. Spencer. -
To attach (to) or unite (with); to receive into a society as a member, and initiate into its mysteries, plans, etc.; -- followed by to or with.
Affiliated societies, societies connected with a central society, or with each other.
Usage examples of "affiliated societies".
Each provincial branch would elect its own representative, but the affiliated societies and associations who elected him would keep their existing leaders and not be in any way subordinate to him: he should be thought of as an organizer who would regularly confer with representatives from the other provinces and pass on the outcome of their deliberations to members of his own branch.