English Reference

Word

fiance

Phoneticsfi·ance

/ˌfiˌɑnˈseɪ/

Definitions

01man engaged to be married

B1

n. a man who has promised to marry someone.

n. a man to whom someone is engaged to be married. This spelling is an alternative to the more common 'fiancé', though the accent is often omitted in casual English writing.

“She invited her fiance to the family dinner to meet her parents.”

“Although the traditional spelling includes an accent, many modern publications refer to a woman's fiance without the diacritic mark.”

Pitfall

She introduced him as her fiancée.

She introduced him as her fiancé.

Use 'fiancé' (one 'e') for a man and 'fiancée' (two 'e's) for a woman.

Synonyms

husband-to-bebetrothed

02to promise to marry

C2

v. to promise that you or someone else will get married.

v. to betroth or affiance someone. This usage is no longer found in contemporary English and is restricted to historical contexts.

“In the old story, the king decided to fiance his daughter to a prince.”

“The historical manuscript describes how the noble families sought to fiance their children to consolidate their power across the region.”

Archaic

Synonyms

betrothaffiance

This entry

Level
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

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English Reference