affiance
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
-
a pledging of faith, as a marriage contract.
-
trust; confidence; reliance.
verb
noun
Etymology
Origin of affiance
1300–50; Middle English < Middle French afiance, equivalent to afi ( er ) to pledge faith, declare on oath, betroth (< Medieval Latin affīdāre, equivalent to ad- ad- + *fīdāre, for Latin fīdere to trust; see confide) + -ance -ance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They tried to engage James to affiance Elizabeth to the Duke of Savoy's son, the Prince of Piedmont, and Henry to the Duke's daughter.
From Sir Walter Ralegh A Biography by W. (William) Stebbing
Ne'er shalt thou rue thy dear affiance: Him that I love, oh let me know!’
From Stories of the Wagner Opera by H. A. (Hélène Adeline) Guerber
Now must he bid farewell to the mountain, for he is going home to his mother who will affiance him to the daughter of the Pope Nicholas.
From Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs (1886) by Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco
She may bear with them, but she layeth no affiance in them.”
From Clare Avery A Story of the Spanish Armada by Emily Sarah Holt
But under his old preceptor, Lord Bute, backed by Lord North, he was bound to court ruin and affiance it.
From Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by L. Carroll Judson
Machine Gun Kelly proposed to Fox in January 2022, after which the affianced couple allegedly drank each other’s blood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2023
The series follows couples who have applied for a K-1 visa, allowing a U.S. citizen to bring over their affianced love from another country.
From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2018
The affianced co-hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” it turns out, have also been named visiting fellows to Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 13, 2017
Being gay is a great thing to be ostentatious about, although using the correct pronouns to refer to your affianced hardly reaches “ostentatious” levels, in my book.
From Slate ● Jan. 4, 2017
Lastly, inspired possibly by a yearning for a wider field in which to exercise her undoubted talents, the affianced of James Nimmo had decided to emigrate to Canada.
From A Knight on Wheels by Ian Hay
Sydney tries to escape the pity of ever-present hotel guests by affiancing herself to a sanguine, vacationing clergyman aged 40, but the clergyman is quickly followed by an anticlimax.
From Time Magazine Archive
Rumour said he had been on the point of affiancing another to one of the men now in prison.
From Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle by M. E. (Mary Edith) Durham
The king survived these transactions two years; but nothing memorable occurs in the remaining part of his reign, except his affiancing his second daughter, Mary, to the young archduke Charles, son of Philip of Castile.
From The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part C. From Henry VII. to Mary by David Hume
The famous affiancing in New York of a coachman with the daughter of the millionaire who employed him did not turn out well.
From Around The Tea-Table by T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt) Talmage
You know, to me, Clara, plighted faith, the affiancing of two lovers, is a piece of religion.
From The Egoist by George Meredith
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