affetti

Affetti is the plural of affetto in Italian, a term that translates to affections, emotions, or feelings. In everyday use, affetti denotes emotional bonds or states, such as love, tenderness, or sympathy, and can refer to a general emotional disposition or to specific feelings. The term is common in literary and religious language and appears in expressions like affetti familiari (family affection).

Historically, affetti has also been used in philosophical contexts to translate the Latin affectus or the concept of affects in early modern thought. In this tradition, affetti are understood as modifications of the body that influence the power of acting, arising from interactions with external causes and from mental ideas. They are often discussed in relation to reason and action and, in Italian translations of Spinoza and subsequent Italian philosophy, described as the affects or emotional states that color cognition and behavior. Some scholarship distinguishes affetti as active or passive forms, or refers to them as passions in certain contexts.

In contemporary Italian, affetti is used more broadly to denote emotional life and social bonds. While the term can carry philosophical nuance in academic writing, in everyday language it commonly refers to feelings, as well as affectionate ties within families and among friends. The word thus spans both personal emotion and relational connections, retaining a central place in discussions of human experience.

See also: affect (psychology), emotion, Spinoza, Italian philosophy.