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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 fiancée in a Sentence
Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 9 Mar. 2025
Sánchez, Jeff Bezos's fiancee and Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, expressed her pride in the mission and the women involved.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Getty Images Singer Katy Perry and CBS’ Gayle King will join Jeff Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez on his rocket company Blue Origin’s next crewed mission.
—Annie Palmer, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2025
Hughes’ fiancee, 47, who was not identified, was allegedly attacked by a woman later identified as Fallon Wise, 41, according to online court records.
—Kc Baker, People.com, 11 Feb. 2025
Calvin Dials, 22, knew the mother of his 18-month-old daughter would be arriving from Tampa that Friday afternoon with her fiancee, 33-year-old Alexander Davis, and her other young little girl, a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant read.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2025
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Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez were among those attending the intimate indoors ceremony.
—Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2025
The father’s wife and the son’s fiancee sat next to each other in court, each of them crying during the bail arguments.
—Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 6 Feb. 2025
Two others who received diplomatic posts are Kimberly Guilfoyle, former fiancee of Donald Trump Jr., and Peter Lamelas, a member of his Palm Beach private club.
—Jeremy Yurow, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2025
Articles Related to fiancée
Cite this Entry
“Fiancée.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9e. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.
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fiancée
noun
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