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Affair - 4 dictionary results

af⋅fair

[uh-fair]
–noun
1. anything done or to be done; anything requiring action or effort; business; concern: an affair of great importance.
2. affairs, matters of commercial or public interest or concern; the transactions of public or private business or finance: affairs of state; Before taking such a long trip you should put all your affairs in order.
3. an event or a performance; a particular action, operation, or proceeding: When did this affair happen?
4. thing; matter (applied to anything made or existing, usually with a descriptive or qualifying term): Our new computer is an amazing affair.
5. a private or personal concern; a special function, business, or duty: That's none of your affair.
6. an intense amorous relationship, usually of short duration.
7. an event or happening that occasions or arouses notoriety, dispute, and often public scandal; incident: the Congressional bribery affair.
8. a party, social gathering, or other organized festive occasion: The awards ceremony is the biggest affair on the school calendar.

Origin:
1250–1300; earlier affaire < F, OF afaire for a faire to do, equiv. to a (< L ad to) + faire ≪ L facere; r. ME afere < OF
af·fair   (ə-fâr')   
n.  
  1. Something done or to be done; business.
  2. affairs Transactions and other matters of professional or public business: affairs of state.
    1. An occurrence, event, or matter: The senator's death was a tragic affair.
    2. A social function.
  3. An object or a contrivance: Their first car was a ramshackle affair.
  4. A matter of personal concern.
  5. affairs Personal business: get one's affairs in order.
  6. A matter causing public scandal and controversy: the Dreyfus affair.
  7. A romantic and sexual relationship, sometimes one of brief duration, between two people who are not married to each other.

[Middle English affaire, from Old French afaire, from a faire, to do : a, to (from Latin ad; see ad-) + faire, to do (from facere; see dhē- in Indo-European roots).]
Synonyms: These nouns denote something that involves one personally: I won't comment on that; it's not my affair. That's none of your business. Mind your own concerns. It's your lookout to file your application on time.

Affair

Af*fair"\ ([a^]f*f[^a]r"), n. [OE. afere, affere, OF. afaire, F. affaire, fr. a faire to do; L.. ad + facere to do. See Fact, and cf. Ado.]

1. That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; as, a difficult affair to manage; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; -- often in the plural. "At the head of affairs." --Junius. "A talent for affairs." --Prescott.

2. Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely; as, an affair of honor, i. e., a duel; an affair of love, i. e., an intrigue.

3. (Mil.) An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.

4. Action; endeavor. [Obs.]

And with his best affair Obeyed the pleasure of the Sun. --Chapman.

5. A material object (vaguely designated).

A certain affair of fine red cloth much worn and faded. --Hawthorne.
Language Translation for : Affair
Spanish: caso,
German: die Affäre,
Japanese: 事件

affair 
c.1300, "what one has to do," from Anglo-Norm. afere, from O.Fr. afaire, from the infinitive phrase à faire "to do" (from L. ad "to" + facere "to do, make"). A Northern word originally, brought into general use and given a Fr. spelling by Caxton (15c.). General sense of "vague proceedings" (in romance, war, etc.) first attested 1702. Affairs "ordinary business" first attested 1484.
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