Definition for AF-FIL'I-ATE

AF-FIL'I-ATE, v.t. [Fr. affilier, to adopt, to initiate into the mysteries of a religious order; L. ad and filius, a son.]

  1. To adopt; to receive into a family as a son.
  2. To receive into a society as a member, and initiate in its mysteries, plans, or intrigues – a sense in which the word was much used by the Jacobins in France, during the revolution.

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