affaire

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See also: affairé

English

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Noun

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affaire (plural affaires)

  1. Obsolete spelling of affair.
    • 1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, A Preface to the Reader:
      M. Secretarie hath this accustomed maner, though his head be neuer so full of most weightie affaires of the Realme, yet, at diner time he doth seeme to lay them alwaies aside

Dutch

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Etymology

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From Middle Dutch affare, from Old French afaire. Spelling borrowed again from Middle French affaire. The sense “sexual affair” has been borrowed from English affair.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˌɑˈfɛː.rə/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: af‧fai‧re
  • Rhymes: -ɛːrə

Noun

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affaire f (plural affaires, diminutive affairtje n)

  1. matter, issue
  2. political scandal or controversy
  3. sexual affair
  4. (dated) business

Derived terms

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French afaire.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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affaire f (plural affaires)

  1. business; matter; affair
    affaire importanteimportant business
    C’est une affaire d’honneur.It is a matter of honor.
    C’est l’affaire d’une minute.It's a matter of a minute.
    C’est mon affaire, pas la vôtre.It's my business, not yours.
  2. deal, transaction, bargain
    conclure une affaireto close a deal
  3. business, enterprise
    Synonyms: société, entreprise
    monter une affaireto set up a business
    Ils ont repris l’affaire familiale.They took over the family business.
  4. affair, scandal
    Synonym: scandale
    l’affaire Dreyfusthe Dreyfus affair
    Affaire FillonFillon affair
  5. (law) case, trial
    L’affaire O.J. Simpson fut une des plus médiatisées.The O. J. Simpson case was one of the most publicized.
  6. (informal) things; stuff
    • 1996, Chrystine Brouillet, C'est pour mieux t'aimer, mon enfant, →ISBN, page 66:
      "Cibole! C’est pas le genre d’affaire qu’on oublie!"
      "Dangit! It's not the kind of stuff you just forget!"
  7. (informal, chiefly in the plural) belonging (something physical that is owned)
  8. (informal, Quebec) thingamajig
  9. (informal, Louisiana) thing

Usage notes

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  • In the meaning of "thing, stuff", the word is also used in the plural.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French affaire. Doublet of affare.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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affaire m (invariable)

  1. political controversy

References

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  1. ^ affaire in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Norman

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Etymology

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From Old French afaire.

Noun

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affaire f (uncountable)

  1. (Guernsey) things

Old French

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Noun

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affaire oblique singularf (oblique plural affaires, nominative singular affaire, nominative plural affaires)

  1. Alternative form of afaire

Spanish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from French affaire.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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affaire m (plural affaires)

  1. affair, love affair
    Synonyms: aventura, affair

Usage notes

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According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

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