affaire

See also: affairé

English

Noun

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

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)

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

Derived terms

• affairisme
• affairist

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French afaire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.fɛʁ/

• Audio; “une affaire”:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʁ
• Homophone: affaires

Noun

affaire f (plural affaires)

1. 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.

2. deal, transaction, bargain

   conclure une affaire ― to close a deal

3. 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.

4. affair, scandal

   Synonym: scandale

   l’affaire Dreyfus ― the Dreyfus affair

   Affaire Fillon ― Fillon 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

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

Derived terms

• affaire de cœur
• affairiste
• avoir affaire à
• faire l’affaire
• faire son affaire
• hors d’affaire
• la belle affaire
• lâcher l’affaire
• se mêler de ses affaires
• sorti d’affaire
• s’occuper de ses affaires
• tiré d’affaire
• toute affaire cessante

 

Related terms

• affairement
• affairer
• faire

 

Descendants

• Saint Dominican Creole French: z'afair
• → Albanian: aferë
• → Breton: afer
• → Dutch: affaire
• → English: affair
  • → Spanish: affair
• → German: Affäre
• → Italian: affaire
• → Macedonian: афера (afera)
• → Polish: afera
• Portuguese: → afazer (calque), → affaire
• → 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/
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Noun

affaire m (invariable)

1. political controversy

Norman

Etymology

From Old French afaire.

Noun

affaire f (uncountable)

1. (Guernsey) things

Old French

Noun

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

1. Alternative form of afaire

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French affaire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈfeɾ/ [aˈfeɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ

Noun

affaire m (plural affaires)

1. 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 [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10