affaire
English edit
Noun edit
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 edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Noun edit
affaire f (plural affaires, diminutive affairtje n)
Derived terms edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old French afaire.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
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 edit
- In the meaning of "thing, stuff", the word is also used in the plural.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- 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 edit
- “affaire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French affaire. Doublet of affare.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
affaire m (invariable)
- political controversy
References edit
- ^ affaire in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Norman edit
Etymology edit
From Old French afaire.
Noun edit
affaire f (uncountable)
Old French edit
Noun edit
affaire oblique singular, f (oblique plural affaires, nominative singular affaire, nominative plural affaires)
- Alternative form of afaire
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Unadapted borrowing from French affaire.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
affaire m (plural affaires)
Usage notes edit
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 edit
- “affaire”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014