Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

fiancé

or fi·an·ce

[fee-ahn-sey, fee-ahn-sey]
noun
  1. a man engaged to be married.
Show More

Origin of fiancé

1850–55; < French: betrothed, past participle of fiancer, Old French fiancier, verbal derivative of fiance a promise, equivalent to fi(er) to trust (< Vulgar Latin *fīdāre, Latin fīdere) + -ance -ance; see -ee
Can be confusedfiancé fiancée faience
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for fiance

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Only the arrival of Christine and her fiance saved his philosophy from complete rout.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • "But you just called him 'the capable Ruggles,'" insisted the fiance.

    Ruggles of Red Gap

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • It was after my wife's death, when I was making the first advances to my present fiance.

  • Dicky looked up from his labours at this, and beheld his fiance for the first time.

  • This might be pardonable, but, as regarded my fiance, what should I do?

British Dictionary definitions for fiance

fiancé

noun
  1. a man who is engaged to be married
Show More

Word Origin

C19: from French, from Old French fiancier to promise, betroth, from fiance a vow, from fier to trust, from Latin fīdere
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fiance

n.

"man to whom one is betrothed," 1864, from French fiancé, past participle of fiancer "to betroth" (see fiancee).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper