afford

• afoord, affoord, affoard, affowrd (all obsolete)

From Middle English aforthen, from Old English ġeforþian, forþian (“to further, accomplish, afford”), from forþ (“forth, forward”), equivalent to a- +‎ forth.

• (General American) enPR: ə-fōrdʹ, IPA^(key): /əˈfoɹd/, /əˈfɔɹd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈfɔːd/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /əˈfo(ː)ɹd/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /əˈfoəd/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d

afford (third-person singular simple present affords, present participle affording, simple past and past participle afforded)

1. To incur, stand, or bear without serious detriment, as an act which might under other circumstances be injurious;—with an auxiliary, as can, could, might, etc.; to be able or rich enough.

   I think we can afford the extra hour it will take.  We can only afford to buy a small car at the moment.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314, page 0088:

     “[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic? […]”

2. To offer, provide, or supply, as in selling, granting, expending, with profit, or without loss or too great injury.

   A affords his goods cheaper than B.  A man can afford a sum yearly in charity.

3. To give forth; to supply, yield, or produce as the natural result, fruit, or issue.

   Grapes afford wine.  Olives afford oil.  The earth affords fruit.  The sea affords an abundant supply of fish.

4. To give, grant, or confer, with a remoter reference to its being the natural result; to provide; to furnish.

   A good life affords consolation in old age.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:

     One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.

   • 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Writing a “Treehouse of Horror” segment has to be both exhilarating and daunting. It’s exhilarating because it affords writers all the freedom in the world.

• Sense 1. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

• affordable
• affordance
• offer affordances