affiliate

affiliate — verb

1. to place a smaller company, school, or other group under the name or system of a

1.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to place a smaller company, school, or other group under the name or system of a larger organization by creating a formal connection between them.

Example

The university affiliated its nursing school with a large Taipei hospital.

affiliate + institution + with + larger body

To save costs, the charity affiliated its mobile clinic with County General Hospital.

Common collocations
  • affiliate a school with a university
  • affiliate a clinic with a hospital
  • affiliate a branch with head office
  • be affiliated with a group
Synonyms
  • link

    the broadest and most neutral choice; not always formal or institutional

  • attach

    can describe adding one unit to another, but is less specific about membership

  • incorporate

    stronger; often suggests the smaller unit is absorbed more fully

Antonyms
  • separate

    to keep organizations apart rather than formally connect them

  • detach

    to remove an existing connection or tie

Grammar Patterns

affiliate + smaller organization + with + larger organization

be affiliated with + organization

Usage Note

Object is usually a smaller institution, company, branch, or local group. Commonly followed by 'with' plus the larger body, and often used in the passive when the new relationship matters more than who created it.

Common Mistakes

The company affiliated with a new branch in Tainan.
The company affiliated the new branch with its Tainan office.
sense 1 is transitive when one organization causes the link.
The school was affiliated to a hospital by the university.
The school was affiliated with a hospital by the university.
in modern English, this pattern usually uses 'with'.

2. to become connected with an organization as a member, worker, supporter, or part

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

to become connected with an organization as a member, worker, supporter, or partner, or to show publicly that this is the group you belong to.

Example

Dr. Huang later affiliated with a cancer center in Boston.

affiliate with + organization

Several young lawyers affiliated themselves with the workers' rights group.

affiliate oneself with + group

Common collocations
  • affiliate with a party
  • affiliate with a union
  • affiliate yourself with a cause
  • be affiliated with a university
Synonyms
  • join

    the plain everyday verb for becoming part of a group

  • associate with

    broader; can describe looser personal or professional ties

  • align yourself with

    stresses public support or shared position, not simple membership

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

affiliate with + organization

affiliate yourself with + organization

be affiliated with + organization

Usage Note

Usually followed by 'with' when a person or smaller group joins an organization. The reflexive pattern 'affiliate yourself with' is more formal, while the passive 'be affiliated with' often describes an existing tie rather than the joining event itself.

Common Mistakes

He affiliated in the club during college.
He affiliated with the club during college.
use 'with' after the intransitive verb.
Our group is affiliated to the union.
Our group is affiliated with the union.
'affiliated with' is the standard modern pattern.

affiliate — noun

Word family

  • affiliated
    adjectiveC1
  • affiliation
    nounC1
  • unaffiliated
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Affiliate' is used when an official relationship is created between organizations, especially when one is smaller and the other gives a name, system, or support. 'Link' is the broad everyday verb; two groups can be linked by money, family, or a shared project without any formal agreement. 'Attach' often suggests adding one unit onto a larger whole, sometimes physically, sometimes administratively. 'Incorporate' is stronger than 'affiliate': it often means the smaller unit is absorbed into the larger system, not just connected to it. A clinic may affiliate with a university hospital and keep its own name, but it may be incorporated into the hospital group if it loses separate status. A school can be linked to a museum by a project, yet formally affiliated with it by contract.

affiliate ↗link ↗attach ↗incorporate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • affiliate school
  • affiliate station
  • affiliate company
  • affiliate network

Adverbs

  • closely affiliated
  • officially affiliated
  • directly affiliated

Phrases

  • be affiliated with
  • an affiliate of
  • affiliate yourself with

Prepositions

  • affiliate with
  • affiliate of
  • be affiliated with

Etymology

LatinMedieval LatinEnglish

'Affiliate' entered English from Medieval Latin 'affiliare', a verb that literally meant 'to make someone a son'. It was built from Latin 'ad-' meaning 'to' and 'filius' meaning 'son'. The earliest idea was being received into a family line or group. In English, that sense widened into the modern use about bringing a person or organization into membership or close institutional connection with a larger body.