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affaire

Etymology and origin of the French word affaire

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1150
Inherited from
Latin facio
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*fak-i-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin facio
English surfeit
French affaire
Latin efficio
Latin effectus
English effect
French effet
Latin officium
English office
Latin facilis
Latin factus
Latin factor
Latin officio

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.fɛʁ/[1]

Forms

affaire f (plural affaires)[1] Old French afaire; masculine until the 16th century, of both genders in the 16th and 17th centuries, then feminine.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from the phrase “à faire” “to be done”, from à and faire,[2][5][6][7][8] the verb being inherited from Latin faciō (“to do, make”).[3] The noun was masculine, like other infinitives used as nouns, and Littré thought its feminine ending made it feminine;[9] the royal chancery long kept the masculine (“les exprès affaires du roi”).[9] Littré rejected Chapelain's idea that the word came from Italian affare, since it is in French texts from the 12th century.[9]

Cognate with Old Occitan afar and Catalan afer.[9] English affair is from Anglo-Norman “afere” (about 1300).[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1150 as a masculine noun, “what is to be done”;[2][5] by about 1155 l'affaire de qqn was “what concerns someone”,[5] and in 1172 avoir affaire de meant “to need”.[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it was used of love affairs, a sense now archaic except in affaire de cœur, and of matters of interest, whence “deal, transaction” (faire une affaire, une bonne affaire).[2] In the 17th century it came to mean an embarrassing or tangled business, and in 1690 a lawsuit; hence the modern “affair, scandal” (l'affaire Dreyfus).[2][1]

In the plural les affaires were public business (1508, les affaires étrangères, Mme de Sévigné, 1680) and economic activity (1788: homme d'affaires);[2] mes affaires “my belongings” is found in 1215 and was taken up again in the 19th century.[2] Toutes affaires cessantes appears in a 1542 letter.[11] In Canada une affaire is any “thing” (c'est quoi, l'affaire ?), and être d'affaires means “to be capable”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1150 – Afaire as a masculine noun.[2]
  • 1172 – Avoir affaire de “to need”.[2]
  • 1215 – Affaires “belongings”.[2]
  • c. 1300 – English affair, from Anglo-Norman.[10]
  • 15th century – The first feminine uses.[5][9]
  • 1508 – Les affaires “public business”.[2]
  • 1690 – “Lawsuit”.[2]
  • 1788 – Les affaires “business, trade”.[2]
  • 1926 – Affairisme.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A matter, concern: c'est mon affaire, une affaire d'honneur, avoir affaire à qqn: to deal with someone.[6][4]
  2. Faire l'affaire: to do, suit, faire son affaire à qqn: to settle someone's account.[6][11]
  3. A business deal, transaction; a bargain: faire une bonne affaire.[6][1]
  4. A business, firm: diriger une affaire.[1][7]
  5. An affair, scandal, (law) a case: l'affaire Dreyfus.[1][2]
  6. (plural) Business, trade; public affairs: un homme d'affaires, les Affaires étrangères.[2][6]
  7. (plural, informal) Belongings, things: ranger ses affaires.[1][2]
  8. (Quebec, informal) A thing, thingamajig.[1][2]

Word family

  • affairiste
  • affairé
  • affairisme
  • affairement
  • affairer
  • faire
  • English affair

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 349b
  9. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Affaire.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/affaire. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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