affiance

1 of 2

noun

af·​fi·​ance ə-ˈfī-ən(t)s How to pronounce affiance (audio)
archaic

affiance

2 of 2

verb

affianced; affiancing

transitive verb

: to solemnly promise (oneself or another) in marriage : betroth

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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

Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
The two got engaged in 2014 and have remained affianced since. 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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'affiance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English affiaunce, borrowed from Anglo-French affiance, afiance, from affier, afier "to pledge faith (to), pledge oneself to marry, trust" (going back to Medieval Latin affīdāre, from Latin ad- ad- + Vulgar Latin *fīdāre "to trust") + -ance -ance — more at fiancé

Verb

borrowed from Anglo-French affiancer, afiancer, verbal derivative of afiance affiance entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1531, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of affiance was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near affiance

Cite this Entry

“Affiance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affiance. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

affiance

verb
af·​fi·​ance
ə-ˈfī-ən(t)s
affianced; affiancing
: to promise in marriage

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