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Promises, Promises: The History of Affidavit, Affiance, & Fiancé
Affidavit refers to a written promise, and its Latin roots connect it to another kind of promise in English. It comes from a past tense form of the Latin verb affidare, meaning “to pledge”; in Latin, affidavit translates to “he or she has made a pledge.”
Affidare is also the root of affiance, an archaic English noun meaning “trust, faith, confidence,” “marriage contract or promise,” or a meaning that has completely fallen from use, “close or intimate relationship.” More familiar to modern English speakers is the verb affiance, meaning “to promise in marriage” or “to betroth.” It usually appears as a fancy-sounding participial adjective:
I like to give affianced friends a copy of Rebecca Mead’s book “One Perfect Day,” which exposes the ridiculous wedding industry.
—Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist, 7 October 2014
Affiance came through French to English in the 14th century, and, nearly 500 years later, the related French words fiancé and fiancée were added to English. Etymologically speaking, a fiancé or fiancée is a “promised one.”
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Fiancé or fiancée?
People may well be anxious, when referring to their betrothed, to make sure that they use the correct term. So the fact that fiancé and fiancée are pronounced exactly the same may cause some degree of worry and uncertainty. These two words are borrowed directly from French, in which language they have equivalent but gendered meanings: fiancé refers to a man who is engaged to be married, and fiancée refers to a woman. We have, as of this date, no evidence suggesting that the meaning of either word is affected by the gender of the person to whom the fiancé or fiancée is engaged.
Examples of fiancé in a Sentence
Ted Johnson, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2024
My fiance, Lily Olsen, was there to take film photos, while Julie took dozens of fit photos to text to Nicholas.
—Katherine Bernard, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2024
Adapted from the novel of the same title by Liu Xiuwen, the drama centers around a successful young woman who lives in the city with her abusive fiance and a lonely terminally ill man running a noodle shop in Wuhan.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 5 Sep. 2024
Diana Spies and her fiance live in the area but were both away from home when the shooting happened and were unable to get home in the immediate aftermath.
—Nick Sullivan, The Arizona Republic, 4 Sep. 2024
The two-bedroom condominium that West rents with her fiance for about $3,100 a month has felt cramped ever since their son was born.
—Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
Take a step back and assess what family means to your fiance.
—Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 17 July 2024
After a tumultuous courtship and a slightly unhinged engagement, Brittany Wisniewski was standing behind a wall, waiting to see her new fiance, Leo Braudy.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 2 Oct. 2024
Because the mother is dismissive, perhaps your fiance and his parents should discuss these concerns together with her.
—Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 14 Sep. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fiancé.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Fiancé.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fiancé
noun
from French fiancé "man engaged to be married," derived from early French fiancé, past participle of fiancer "to promise," derived from Latin fidere "to trust" — related to faith
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