affiance

/əˈfaɪ.əns/

affiance verb: to be betrothed to; to promise to marry.

Verb

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

(literary, often, passive, transitive) To be betrothed to; to promise to marry.
- [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 [...]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....
- 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.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)

affiance (plural affiances)

Faith, trust.
- […] in syr Launcelot & you I moost had my Ioye / & myn affyaunce / & now haue I lost my Ioye of you bothe […]
  […] "in Sir Launcelot and you I most had my joy, and mine affiance, and now have I lost my joy of you both" […]1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XXI, Chapter ii, leaf 421r
- All other outward shewes and exterior apparences are common to all religions: As hope, affiance [translating confiance], events, ceremonies, penitence and martyrdome.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
(archaic) A solemn engagement, especially a pledge of marriage.
- I that Ladie to my spouse had wonne; / Accord of friends, consent of parents sought, / Affiance made, my happinesse begonne […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

திருமணம் செய்வதாக உறுதி வழங்கு, திருமண உறுதி செய், நிச்சயி, நேச ஒப்பந்தம், மண இசைவு, பற்றுறுதி

مَنگنی کَرنا, سَگائی کَرنا, نِسبَت طے کَرنا, شادی کا پابَند کَرنا

বাগদান করা, প্রতিশ্রুতি দেওয়া

Such feelings promptly yielded to his habitual affiance in the divine love.1849, James Stephen, Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography:
Lancelot, my Lancelot, thou in whom I have / Most joy and most affiance, […]1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 218:

Verb
third-person singular present	affiances
present participle	affiancing
past participle	affianced
past	affianced
alternative form	affiaunce
Noun
plural	affiances

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

What does affiance mean?: Affiance means to be betrothed to; to promise to marry.
What is affiance in Tamil?: Affiance in Tamil is திருமணம் செய்வதாக உறுதி வழங்கு, திருமண உறுதி செய், நிச்சயி. See Affiance meaning in Tamil.
How do you use affiance in a sentence?: Such feelings promptly yielded to his habitual affiance in the divine love.
What part of speech is affiance?: Affiance can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce affiance?: Affiance is pronounced /əˈfaɪ.əns/.
What is the past tense of affiance?: The past tense of affiance is affianced.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-affiance.wav.

Cite this entry: “affiance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/affiance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.