Noun

Deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with the wish to relieve it

* 1849 , Robert Leighton (Archbishop of Glasgow), A practical commentary upon the first Epistle of St. Peter (page 47)

Oh! the unspeakable privilege to have Him for our Father, who is the Father of mercies and compassions , and those not barren, fruitless pityings, for He is withal the God of all consolations.

Noun

(en noun)

The act of affecting or acting upon.

The state of being affected.

An attribute; a quality or property; a condition; a bodily state; as, figure, weight, etc., are affections of bodies.

Bent of mind; a feeling or natural impulse or natural impulse acting upon and swaying the mind; any emotion; as, the benevolent affections, esteem, gratitude, etc.; the malevolent affections, hatred, envy, etc.; inclination; disposition; propensity; tendency.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-23, author=(Mark Cocker)

, volume=189, issue=11, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Wings of Desire , passage=Our affections for wild animals are distributed very unevenly. Take insects. Some 750,000 species have already been documented worldwide and the great American naturalist EO Wilson called them "the little things that run the world". Through their recycling of nutrients and the supply of base-level protein to a vast array of higher life forms, insects underpin the existence of life on this planet. Yet when it comes to human concern for creepy-crawlies, forget it.}}

A feeling of love or strong attachment.

* 1813 , Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Chapter 61

Mr. Bennet missed his second daughter exceedingly; his affection for her drew him oftener from home than anything else could do. He delighted in going to Pemberley, especially when he was least expected.

(medicine, archaic) Disease; morbid symptom; malady.

* Dunglison

a pulmonary affection