Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·French ·1850s
Fiancé / fiancée
from fiancé
- Meaning
- A person engaged to be married (masculine/feminine).
- Source word
- fiancé
- Route into English
- French past participle of *fiancer* (to betroth) → English. One of few French loans to preserve gender marking (the final *-e* changes by gender) and accent in written English.
- Arrived
- 1850s
From French
Beyond the Norman conquest's Old French foundation, English kept borrowing from French for art, cuisine, fashion, and diplomacy throughout the modern period.
English borrows.
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