fiancée

noun

fi·an·cée | \ ˌfē-ˌän-ˈsā

, fē-ˈän-ˌsā\

Definition of fiancée

: a woman engaged to be married

Synonyms Promises, Promises: The History of Affidavit, Affiance, & Fiancé Fiancé or fiancée? Example Sentences Learn More about fiancée

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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.”

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

My fiancée and I will be married in June. his fiancée is insisting on an elaborate wedding

Recent Examples on the Web

Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng has been accused of aggravated assault against his former fiancee Sherin Senler. — SI.com, "Jerome Boateng Under Investigation for Aggravated Assault Against Former Fiancee," 4 Sep. 2019 Other than shocking her with the photographer, did Adams succeed in surprising his new fiancee? — Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY, "Wells Adams spills on proposing to Sarah Hyland: 'She knew what was happening, I think'," 18 July 2019 Fired from his corporate job, a man agrees to impregnate his ex-fiancee and a slew of lesbians for money. — Los Angeles Times, "Movies on TV this week Sept. 15, 2019: ‘Alien,’ ‘Aliens’ and more," 13 Sep. 2019 The couple offered to shelter Herman with sympathetic farmers outside of town — and then, at Herman’s request, found a place for his fiancee and her mother as well. — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, "Diet Eman, Dutch resistance hero who saved Jews during World War II, dies at 99," 6 Sep. 2019 Mayfield’s fiancee, Emily Wilkinson, also worked out with them. — Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com, "Baker Mayfield works out with Mark Wahlberg in L.A.," 27 June 2019 During the post-match press conference, a tournament volunteer translated English questions in Korean to Lee's fiancee, Soopin, who acted as a conduit between Lee and reporters. — Aimee Lewis, CNN, "Duckhee Lee: South Korean becomes first deaf player to win ATP Tour match," 20 Aug. 2019 Folks came from Butler County at 6 a.m. on Saturdays and fought to get in his chair, his fiancee, Michelle Martin told me. — Byron Mccauley, Cincinnati.com, "Barber Donnie Johnson closed his Over-The-Rhine shop before Father's Day. He died 3 weeks later.," 25 July 2019 Rachel and her fiancee, Laurel Bowman, filed a complaint with Oregon's Board of Labor and Industries. — NBC News, "Supreme Court sends gay wedding cake dispute back to state courts," 17 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fiancée.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.