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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
Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2025
Because your fiance is probably not the guy to do that with.
—Toria Sheffield, People.com, 9 Mar. 2025
Other friends and social media users also commented on the post, wishing Leila and her fiance the best.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 2 Mar. 2025
Martinez had messaged Flores’ fiance on Facebook to say he got punched.
—Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 18 Feb. 2025
The fiance shouldn't even want to bring an animal to such a woefully harmful environment.
—Toria Sheffield, People.com, 9 Mar. 2025
The track is written by Lady Gaga, her fiance Michael Polansky, watt, and Cirkut, and fans really took a closer look at its structure and inflections.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 7 Mar. 2025
Carlos Milan, his fiance Yaniris Jerez and her brother Miguel Jerez were among those caught in the shooting.
—Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2025
Leila has been dating her fiance, Sylvain Gricourt, 33, for seven years.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 2 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fiancé.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
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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