(formerly) an order made by a magistrates' court that a man adjudged to be the father of an illegitimate child shall contribute a specified periodic sum towards the child's maintenance
affiliation order in American English
noun
English Law
a court order requiring the father of an illegitimate child to make child-support payments
Word origin
[1830–40]This word is first recorded in the period 1830–40. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: ante, baby talk, isomerism, isometric, nationalism