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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
Forbes Wealth Team, Forbes, 3 Feb. 2025
The stunning move comes after Bonner’s fiancee, five-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas, was sent to the Phoenix Mercury in a sign-and-trade deal after 11 years with the Sun.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 2 Feb. 2025
The issue began when the groom's fiancee, Emily, decided not to invite the poster's wife, Lisa, to their upcoming wedding.
—Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
Zion Perry, Kevin's fiancee, who also went to MIT.
Det.
—Anne-Marie Green, CBS News, 25 Jan. 2025
My fiancee wants to offer to host them when my parents are here.
—Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2025
Sage Bakehouse Savory Pies, Montara Just off of Highway 1 on the San Mateo County coast, this charming cafe was inspired by a New Zealand trip owner Nick Lee took with his soon-to-be fiancee — now, his wife.
—Linda Zavoral, The Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2025
Seated in front of Trump's incoming Cabinet were Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
—Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2025
Dana, Solomon’s fiancee, might also be getting thanks from the wider Leeds fanbase by the end of May.
—Beren Cross, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near fiancée
Cite this Entry
“Fiancée.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fianc%C3%A9e. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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fiancée
noun
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