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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
Beren Cross, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez kicked back on his yacht there to kick off the new year, shortly after celebrating her 55th birthday on board.
—Natalia Senanayake, People.com, 6 Jan. 2025
Chisholm planned on going on vacation to Miami with his fiancee, Kate.
—Joe Smith, The Athletic, 31 Dec. 2024
Last year, Donald Trump Jr.’s longtime fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle was his proud date to Donald Trump’s annual Christmas celebration at Mar-a-Lago.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 27 Dec. 2024
Bezos and his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, were spotted having dinner with Trump on Wednesday night at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
—Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 19 Dec. 2024
Anthony has also appeared on the reality TV series Real Housewives of Miami, alongside his fiancee, Dr. Nicole Martin, on the show’s fourth and fifth seasons.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 16 Dec. 2024
Just take Katie Goodland, wife of Harry Kane, or Paige Milian, fiancee to Raheem Sterling.
—Meg Walters, Glamour, 20 Nov. 2024
Tony Gallegos and his fiancee, Olga Moreno, from El Centro.
—Anabel Sosa, Los Angeles Times, 8 Dec. 2024
Articles Related to fiancée
Dictionary Entries Near fiancée
Cite this Entry
“Fiancée.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9e. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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fiancée
noun
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