Meaning

noun a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity

noun a condition of suffering or distress due to ill health

noun a cause of great suffering and distress

originFrom Middle English affliction, affliccioun, from Old French afliction, borrowed from Latin afflīctiōnem (“pain, suffering, torment”), from Latin afflīctō (“to damage, harass, torment”), from ad- + flīctus, past participle of afflīgō (“strike, beat”), from ad- + flīgō (“strike”) (whence af-). By surface analysis, afflict + -ion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0