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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
John Meyer, Denver Post, 30 Nov. 2025
However, one of the biggest questions heading into Thursday’s game was if pop superstar Taylor Swift would attend the game to watch her fiance, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
—Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Nov. 2025
The fiance of missing pregnant woman Rebecca Park has been taken into custody.
—Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
If the wedding is called off, the foreign fiance or fiancee must return to their country of origin.
—Julia Meszaros, The Conversation, 21 Nov. 2025
On September 28, Indiana resident Lucien Bates went with his fiance and a friend to play games at a Round1 Bowling and Arcade location in North Riverside, IL, Bates told the Windy City Times on Monday.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 6 Nov. 2025
Maggie McVey and her fiance have three young children and work hard to make ends meet.
—Natalie Eilbert, jsonline.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Some of her friends are reccomending her er former fiance Lenny Kravitz as a renew love interest.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 16 Oct. 2025
All over the album, Taylor sings about her romantic bliss with her new fiance Travis Kelce.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fiancé.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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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