Lewis Short
affecto (better adf-), āvi, ātum, 1
* V. freq. [adficio]; constr. aliquid.
* To strive after a thing, to exert one's self to obtain, to pursue, to aim to do: adfectare est pronum animum ad faciendum habere, Paul. ex Fest. p. 2 Müll.—So, adfectare viam or iter, trop., to enter on or take a way, in order to arrive at a destined point (very freq. in Plaut. and Ter.): ut me defraudes, ad eam rem adfectas viam,you are on your way to this,Plaut. Men. 4, 3, 12; id. Aul. 3, 6, 39: hi gladiatorio animo ad me adfectant viam,set upon me,Ter. Phorm. 5, 7, 71; so id. Heaut. 2, 3, 60: quam viam munitet, quod iter adfectet, videtis,Cic. Rosc. Am. 48.—So in other cases: cur opus adfectas novum?Ov. Am. 1, 1, 14: adfectare spem, to cling to or cherish, Liv. 28, 18; cf. Ov. M. 5, 377: navem, to seize or lay hold of: verum ubi nulla datur dextrā adfectare potestas (of the giant Polyphemus),Verg. A. 3, 670.
* To endeavor to make one's own, to pursue, strive after, aspire to, aim at, desire: munditiem, non adfluentiam adfectabat,Nep. Att. 13, 5; Cic. Her. 4, 22: diligentiam,Plin. 17, 1, 1: magnificentiam verborum,Quint. 3, 8, 61: elegantiam Graecae orationis verbis Latinis,Gell. 17, 20: artem,Val. Max. 8, 7, n. 1 extr.—Pass.: morbo adfectari, to be seized or attacked by disease, Liv. 29, 10 init.
* In a bad sense, to strive after a thing passionately, to aim at or aspire to: dominationes, Sall. Fragm. ap. Aug. Civ. Dei, 3, 17: caelum,Ov. Am. 3, 8, 51: uniones,Plin. 9, 35, 56: regnum,Liv. 1, 46, 2; 2, 7, 6: imperium in Latinos,id. 1, 50, 4: cruorem alicujus,Stat. Th. 11, 539: immortalitatem,Curt. 4, 7.—Also with inf. as object, Plaut. Bacch. 3, 1, 9: non ego sidereas adfecto tangere sedes,Ov. A. A. 2, 39; Stat. Th. 1, 132: Sil. 4, 138; Quint. 5, 10, 28: qui esse docti adfectant,id. 10, 1, 97.
* In the histt., to seek to draw to one's self, to try to gain over: civitates formidine adfectare,Sall. J. 66: Gallias,Vell. 2, 39: Galliarum societatem,Tac. H. 4, 17; 1, 23; 4, 66; id. G. 37, 9; Flor. 2, 2, 3.
* To imitate a thing faultily, or with dissimulation, to affect, feign (only post-Aug.): crebrum anhelitum,Quint. 11, 3, 56: imitationem antiquitatis,id. 11, 3, 10: famam clementiae,Tac. H. 2, 63: studium carminum,id. A. 14, 16; so Suet. Vesp. 23: Plin. Pan. 20.—Hence, adfectātus, a, um, P. a.; in rhetoric, choice, select, or farfetched; studied: subtilitas,Quint. 3, 11, 21: scurrilitas,id. 11, 1, 30: (gradatio) apertiorem habet artem et magis adfectatam,id. 9, 3, 54: adfectata et parum naturalia,id. 11, 3, 10 (but in 12, 10, 45 the correct read. is effectius, acc. to Spald.).—Adv.: adfec-tātō, studiously, zealously, Lampr. Heliog. 17.
Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary