affair

affair
affair (n.) c.1300, "what one has to do," from Anglo-French afere, O.Fr. afaire (12c., Mod.Fr. affaire) "business, event; rank, estate," from the infinitive phrase à faire "to do," from L. ad "to" (see AD- (Cf. ad-)) + facere "to do, make" (see FACTITIOUS (Cf. factitious)). A Northern word originally, brought into general use and given a French spelling by Caxton (15c.). General sense of "vague proceedings" (in romance, war, etc.) first attested 1702. Meaning "an affair of the heart; a passionate episode" is from Fr. affaire de coeur (itself attested in English from 1809); to have an affair with someone in this sense is by 1726, earlier have an affair of love:
'Tis manifeЕїtly contrary to the Law of Nature, that one Woman Еїhould cohabit or have an Affair of Love with more than one Man at the Еїame time. ["Pufendorf's Law of Nature and Nations," transl. J. Spavan, London, 1716]
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Thus, in our dialect, a vicious man is a man of pleasure, a sharper is one that plays the whole game, a lady is said to have an affair, a gentleman to be a gallant, a rogue in business to be one that knows the world. By this means, we have no such things as sots, debauchees, whores, rogues, or the like, in the beau monde, who may enjoy their vices without incurring disagreeable appellations. [George Berkeley, "Alciphron or the Minute Philosopher," 1732]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • affair — 1 Affair, business, concern, matter, thing come into comparison only when they are little more than vague or general terms meaning something done or dealt with. Some or rarely all are used interchangeably in certain similar collocations such as… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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