afflict

Afflict — Af*flict , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Afflicted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Afflicting}.] [L. afflictus, p. p. of affigere to cast down, deject; ad + fligere to strike: cf. OF. aflit, afflict, p. p. Cf. {Flagellate}.] 1. To strike or cast down; to overthrow.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

afflict — afflict, try, torment, torture, rack mean to inflict upon a person something which he finds hard to bear. Something or someone that causes pain, disability, suffering, acute annoyance, irritation, or embarrassment may be said to afflict a person… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

Afflict — Af*flict , p. p. & a. [L. afflictus, p. p.] Afflicted. [Obs.] Becon. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

afflict — I verb agonize, anguish, assault, bruise, burden, chasten, discommode, discompose, disquiet, distress, grate, harm, hurt, impair, infect, inflict, irritate, mistreat, pain, plague, punish, rasp, sicken, smite, strike, victimize II index affront,… …   Law dictionary

afflict — (v.) late 14c., to cast down, from O.Fr. aflicter, from L. afflictare to damage, harass, torment, frequentative of affligere (pp. afflictus) to dash down, overthrow, from ad to (see AD (Cf. ad )) + fligere (pp. flictus) to strike, from PIE …   Etymology dictionary

afflict — [v] cause or become hurt agonize, annoy, beset, bother, burden, crucify, distress, grieve, harass, harrow, harry, irk, lacerate, martyr, oppress, pain, pester, plague, press, rack, smite, strike, torment, torture, trouble, try, vex, worry, wound; …   New thesaurus

afflict — ► VERB ▪ cause pain or suffering to. DERIVATIVES affliction noun. ORIGIN Latin afflictare knock about, harass , or affligere knock down, weaken …   English terms dictionary

afflict — [ə flikt′] vt. [< L afflictare, to injure, vex < afflictus, pp. of affligere, to strike down < ad , to + fligere: see INFLICT] 1. to cause pain or suffering to; distress very much 2. Obs. to overthrow …   English World dictionary

afflict — transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from Latin afflictus, past participle of affligere to cast down, from ad + fligere to strike more at profligate Date: 14th century 1. obsolete a. humble b. overthrow …   New Collegiate Dictionary

afflict — [14] When it originally entered English, afflict meant ‘overthrow’, reflecting its origins in Latin afflīgere ‘throw down’, a compound verb formed from the prefix ad ‘to’ and flīgere ‘strike’. English afflict comes either from the Latin past… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

afflict — inflict, afflict Both words are concerned with the suffering of unpleasant circumstances, but they have different constructions. Inflict has the unpleasantness as object, and afflict has the victim: • He knew also that the greater part of the… …   Modern English usage