affaire
English
Noun
affaire (plural affaires)
- 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
Etymology
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
- IPA(key): /ˌɑˈfɛː.rə/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: af‧fai‧re
- Rhymes: -ɛːrə
Noun
affaire f (plural affaires, diminutive affairtje n)
- matter, issue
- political scandal or controversy
- sexual affair
- (dated) business
Derived terms
- affairisme
- affairist
French
Etymology
From Old French afaire.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a.fɛʁ/
Audio ("une affaire") (file) - Rhymes: -ɛʁ
- Homophone: affaires
Noun
affaire f (plural affaires)
- business; matter; affair
- affaire importante ― important 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.
- deal, transaction, bargain
- conclure une affaire ― to close a deal
- business, enterprise
- Synonyms: société, entreprise
- monter une affaire ― to set up a business
- Ils ont repris l'affaire familiale. ― They took over the family business.
- affair, scandal
- Synonym: scandale
- l'affaire Dreyfus ― the Dreyfus affair
- Affaire Fillon ― Fillon affair
- (law) case, trial
- L'affaire O.J. Simpson fut une des plus médiatisées. ― The O. J. Simpson case was one of the most publicized.
- (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!"
-
- (informal, chiefly in the plural) belonging (something physical that is owned)
- (informal, Quebec) thingamajig
- (informal, Louisiana) thing
Usage notes
- In the meaning of "thing, stuff", the word is also used in the plural.
Derived terms
- affaire de cœur
- avoir affaire à
- faire l'affaire
- faire son affaire
- hors d'affaire
- la belle affaire
- lâcher l'affaire
- se mêler de ses affaires
- s'occuper de ses affaires
- sorti d'affaire
- tiré d'affaire
- toute affaire cessante
Related terms
- affairement
- affairer
- faire
Descendants
- Saint Dominican Creole French: z'afair
- → Breton: afer
- → Dutch: affaire
- → English: affair
- → Spanish: affair
- → German: Affäre
- → Italian: affaire
- → Macedonian: афера (afera)
- → Polish: afera
- → Russian: афера (afera)
- → Serbo-Croatian: афера
- → Spanish: affaire
- → Swedish: affär
Further reading
- “affaire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from French affaire. Doublet of affare.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /afˈfɛr/[1]
- Rhymes: -ɛr
Noun
affaire m (invariable)
- political controversy
References
- affaire in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Norman
Etymology
From Old French afaire.
Noun
affaire f (uncountable)
- (Guernsey) things
Old French
Noun
affaire f (oblique plural affaires, nominative singular affaire, nominative plural affaires)
- Alternative form of afaire
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French affaire.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aˈfeɾ/ [aˈfeɾ]
- Rhymes: -eɾ
Noun
affaire m (plural affaires)
- affair, love affair
- Synonyms: aventura, affair
Usage notes
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
- “affaire”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014