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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.”
Examples of affiance in a Sentence
Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 5 May 2023
Alexandra Crotin, a rep for Stone, later confirmed to USA TODAY the actress and writer are now affianced.
—Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 5 Dec. 2019
Below, more perfect gifts to get anyone freshly affianced.
—Vogue, 21 Nov. 2019
Agreeing to be honored in a good friend’s wedding does not mean signing up to pay for expensive group vacations — no matter what the magazines and affianced tell you.
—Judith Martin, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2019
Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson became the subject of engagement rumors Monday afternoon with outlets reporting that they were recently affianced.
—Nardine Saad, latimes.com, 11 June 2018
The newly affianced, reluctant to trouble one another with family problems, may rent substitutes for parents who are divorced, incarcerated, or mentally ill.
—Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2018
If this woman decides to yell at you for becoming affianced, that’s a real opportunity for her fiancé to lovingly encourage her to amend her bad behavior.
—Mallory Ortberg, Slate Magazine, 12 June 2017
Dictionary Entries Near affiance
Cite this Entry
“Affiance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affiance. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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