fiancé
Americannoun
noun
Gender
See fiancée.
Etymology
Origin of fiancé
First recorded in 1850–55; from French: “betrothed,” past participle of fiancer, Old French fiancier, verbal derivative of fiance “a promise,” equivalent to fi(er) “to trust” (from unattested Vulgar Latin fīdāre, Latin fīdere ) + -ance noun suffix; see -ance, -ee
Explanation
The minute you get down on one knee and ask a man to marry you — assuming he says "yes" — he becomes your fiancé, or the man you are engaged to marry. Fiancé comes from French; in fact, it is so French that it even has masculine and feminine versions (like many nouns in French). If you're talking about a woman, you would call her a fiancée rather than a fiancé, which is used only to refer to men. The Latin root of fiancé, which is spelled the same way, means "a promise," so you can think of becoming someone's fiance as a promise you're making to go through with the marriage.
Vocabulary lists containing fiance
English Words Derived from French, List 8
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Illegal
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Endangered
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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.
Lady Gaga mused about writing songs inspired by her fiancé.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
When the singer and her fiancé bought the home, it marked one of the priciest sales in the area in 2024.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
Rosalía used this as a perfect segue into her song La Perla, supposedly about her former fiancé Rauw Alejandro - with lyrics about a "terrorista emocional" whose proudest achievement is his collection of bras.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
Daniela’s fiancé, Holden Karnofsky, also lived in the group house.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
She felt torn between living up to the expectations of her father and her fiancé, both important men in her life.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
