# 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: /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

Inherited from Old French afaire.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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
* 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
* → Vietnamese: áp phe

### 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: /afˈfɛr/
* 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 oblique singular, f (oblique plural affaires, nominative singular affaire, nominative plural affaires)
* Alternative form of afaire

## Spanish
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French affaire.

### Pronunciation

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