affecto (better adf-), āvi, ātum, 1, v. freq. [adficio]; constr. aliquid.
I 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. 964; so id. Heaut. 301: 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.—
II To endeavor to make one's own , to pursue , strive after , aspire to , aim at , desire : munditiem, non adfluentiam adfectabat, Nep. Att. 13, 5; Auct. Her. 4, 22: diligentiam, Plin. 17, 1, 1, 9: 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. —
B 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.—
C 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.—
D 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.
VI —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.