fiancé
Americannoun
noun
Gender
See fiancée.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Zendaya addresses those AI-generated pictures depicting her marriage to fiancé Tom Holland while also remaining coy about whether they really tied the knot.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
While the audience freaked out with joy, she brought her fiancé, 26-year-old right-wing writer Vance Voetberg, on stage.
From Salon • Jun. 12, 2026
In “Our Perfect Storm,” childhood best friends Frankie and George go on a platonic honeymoon after Frankie’s fiancé dumps her at the start of their wedding weekend.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 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
I had a new job, a fiancé, and an expanded family—an approving Kenyan granny, even.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
