affectionate adj.

c. 1200, affeccioun, "desire, inclination, wish, intention;" mid-14c., "an emotion of the mind, passion, lust as opposed to reason;" from Old French afection (12c., Modern French affection) "emotion, inclination, disposition; love, attraction, enthusiasm," from Latin affectionem (nominative affectio) "a relation, disposition; a temporary state; a frame, constitution," noun of state from past-participle stem of afficere "to do something to, act on," from ad "to" (see ad-) + facere (past participle factus) "to make, do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

The sense developed in Latin from "disposition" to "good disposition, zealous attachment." In English the sense of "love" is from late 14c. Formally it goes with affect (v.2), but it has absorbed some sense from (v.1). Related: Affections.

word-forming element used in forming nouns from Latin words ending in -atus, -atum (such as estate, primate, senate). Those that came to English via French often arrived with -at, but an -e was added after c. 1400 to indicate the long vowel. The suffix also can mark adjectives formed from Latin past participles in -atus, -ata (such as desolate, moderate, separate); again, they often were adopted in Middle English as -at, with an -e appended after c. 1400.