Affair

How to spell affair

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce affair

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does affair mean?

1. nounA matter, concern, or organised event that someone is involved in or responsible for.
2. nounA secret romantic or sexual relationship, typically between people one of whom is married to someone else.

Affair in a sentence

• The wedding was a lavish affair that lasted three days.

• His secret affair with a colleague eventually ended the marriage.

• How she spends her own salary is entirely her own affair.

• The novel follows a doomed affair between two married neighbours.

Where does affair come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the 1300s from the Old French 'afaire', which was simply the phrase 'a faire' run together, meaning 'to do' or 'something to be done'. That phrase rested on the Latin 'ad facere', where 'ad' meant 'to' and 'facere' meant 'to do' or 'to make', so the literal sense was a matter that needed doing. From the general idea of business or things to attend to, English broadened it to cover any happening, event, or concern, and by the 1700s it had also acquired the discreet sense of a romantic liaison. The same 'facere' root sits inside everyday relatives such as 'factory', 'manufacture', and 'fact'. The spelling trap is the doubled 'f' followed by a single 'r', a leftover from the French prefix being absorbed into the root.

How the word is built

• af- (from Old French 'a', to/at)
• fair (from 'faire', to do) = literally 'to do', a thing to be done