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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
CBS News, 13 Apr. 2025
In addition to his fiancee, Hardy is survived by two sons, Kevin and Brian; two sisters, Christine Ann Hardy and Cathlyn Kroml; two brothers, Steven and Brian; and two granddaughters.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 31 Mar. 2025
On a March afternoon, squeezing the hand of their fiancee, Fulton reflected on what their wedding could have been.
—Briah Lumpkins, Charlotte Observer, 25 Mar. 2025
Brian Doss loved driving in derbies, and his fiancee Schuman would be right there cheering him on, their obituaries said.
—Jennifer Rodriguez, Kansas City Star, 17 Apr. 2025
Jeff Bezos falls after Blue Origin New Shepard capsule lands
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos took a tumble in Texas while circling the New Shepard capsule that landed safely after carrying fiancee Lauren Sanchez, pop star Katy Perry and others to space, Monday.
—Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 14 Apr. 2025
Unfortunately, on almost every occasion, Pancake ends up being turfed out by Bruno and his fiancee.
—Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
Love Is Blind Season 8 is over and done with, but questions still remain around what happened to Joey’s sister on the Netflix show after his beautiful tribute to her at his wedding to his then-fiancee, Monica.
—Jason Pham, StyleCaster, 11 Mar. 2025
His fiancee, 30-year-old Yaniris Jerez, and her brother, 34-year-old Miguel Jerez, were also wounded in the shooting.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 10 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fiancée.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9e. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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fiancée
noun
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