affiance

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle French affiance, from affier (from Medieval Latin affīdāre, from *fīdāre, from Latin fīdere) + -ance.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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affiance (third-person singular simple present affiances, present participle affiancing, simple past and past participle affianced)

  1. (transitive) To be betrothed to; to promise to marry.
    • 1935 April, William Faulkner, “Skirmish at Sartoris”, in The Unvanquished, New York, N.Y.: Random House, published 1938, →OCLC; republished in The Unvanquished: The Corrected Text, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, October 1991, →ISBN, section 1, page 189:
      [S]he had expected the worst ever since Drusilla had deliberately tried to unsex herself by refusing to feel any natural grief at the death in battle not only of her affianced husband but of her own father [...]
    • 2018 July 6, Moira Walley-Beckett, “What We have been Makes Us what We are” (07:00 from the start), in Anne with an E, season 2, episode 9, spoken by Anne Shirley-Cuthbert (Amybeth McNulty):
      She left our former teacher at the altar. Oh well, it's no secret that Prissy was affianced to our former teacher, but justifiably fled the wedding.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Noun

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affiance (plural affiances)

  1. Faith, trust.
  2. (archaic) A solemn engagement, especially a pledge of marriage.

Middle French

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Etymology

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From Old French afiance, from afier (to promise) +‎ -ance.

Noun

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affiance f (plural affiances)

  1. promise (verbal guarantee)

Descendants

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  • English: affiance

References

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  • affiance on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)