Present participle of affiliate; the act of officially connecting, joining, or associating with a larger organization or group.
From affiliate, which derives from Medieval Latin affiliāre 'to adopt as a son' (ad- 'to' + fīlius 'son'), evolving to mean 'associate with or attach to.' The -ing suffix forms the present participle.
Colleges are constantly 'affiliating' with other universities to share research and resources—it's like adoption but for organizations, which makes sense when you think about the original Latin meaning 'to adopt as a son,' except now we're adopting entire institutions instead.
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