fiançailles
/fjɑ̃.saj/
Marriage engagement in French is fiançailles.
The term fiançailles refers to the period or the concept of engagement. It is also used to refer to the engagement party or ceremony itself. For example, saying des fiançailles can mean an engagement.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word is almost always used in the plural form with a definite article, such as les fiançailles to mean "the engagement". If you want to describe the state of being engaged, use the adjective fiancé for a man or fiancée for a woman in the phrase être fiancé(e).
How do you pronounce it?
/fjɑ̃.saj/. The word has 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- The word fiançailles shares the same root as the word 'finance' in English. Both stem from the Old French concept of 'fiance', which originally meant a 'trust' or 'a pledge' to fulfill an obligation.
- In historical French law, fiançailles were treated as a legally binding contract, and breaking a promise to marry could lead to a lawsuit in court.
- If you want to say 'to get engaged' as a verb, you must use the reflexive form se fiancer. Simply saying 'fiancer' someone would imply you are legally or formally arranging a marriage for them.
Examples in context
- Nous sommes officiellement en fiançaillesWe are officially engaged
- Nous avons échangé des promesses de mariageWe have exchanged promises of marriage
- Nous nous sommes fiancés hier soirWe got engaged last night
- Ils ont annoncé leurs fiançailles hier.They announced their engagement yesterday.
- Nous fêtons nos fiançailles avec nos amis.We are celebrating our engagement with our friends.
- Ses fiançailles ont duré deux ans.Their engagement lasted two years.
Example conversation
Manon and Nathan are discussing a friend's news.
- ManonTu as entendu pour Julie et Marc ?Did you hear about Julie and Marc?
- NathanOui, ils ont fêté leurs fiançailles samedi.Yes, they celebrated their engagement on Saturday.
- ManonC'est fantastique pour eux !That's fantastic for them!
- NathanJe suis d'accord, ils forment un beau couple.I agree, they make a beautiful couple.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry fiançailles, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries fiançailles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
