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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.”
Did you know?
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
ArsTechnica, 1 June 2025
Johnston’s fiancee, Sara Radovanovitch, tweeted that Trump got Johnston’s case dismissed on his first day in office.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 28 May 2025
Taylor and Massengill were both down in the Brazosport ISD when Taylor, whose fiancee was going to head to school in Fort Worth anyway, was contacted about an opening back at his alma mater.
—Darren Lauber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 May 2025
Becky taunted Valkyria’s fiancee, who was in the crowd.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 11 May 2025
Dear Abby: My fiancee and I have been arguing almost every day.
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 8 May 2025
All-female Blue Origin crew with Bezos’ fiancee, Katy Perry, Gayle King launch to space
Jeff Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sánchez led an all-female crew including pop singer Katy Perry and CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King for a short trip to space this morning.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
The agencies said Putin also presented flowers to Trufanov's mother, Elena, and his fiancee, Sapir Cohen, who were also among some 250 hostages seized by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
—Reuters, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2025
Bezos' fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, put together Monday's all female-crew, six accomplished women, including King, pop star Katy Perry, two scientists and a filmmaker.
—CBS News, 13 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fiancée.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9e. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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fiancée
noun
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