# fiance

/ˌfiˌɑnˈseɪ/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/fiance
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. man engaged to be married

noun · CEFR B1

a man who has promised to marry someone.

For teachers: 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.

### 2. to promise to marry

verb · CEFR C2 · Archaic

to promise that you or someone else will get married.

For teachers: 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.

## Examples

- She introduced her fiancé to her parents at dinner.
- After three years of dating, her fiancé finally proposed during their vacation in Italy.
- The couple decided to host an engagement party so that both families could meet her fiancé before the wedding preparations began in earnest.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.