verb, noun — 7 senses
US, UK /əˈfaɪ/
Etymology From Middle English affien (“to have faith, trust”), from Anglo-Norman afier, affier, affyer, Middle French afier, affier, affyer, and Old French afier (“to agree to marry; to believe, trust; to assure, promise; to confide in; to pledge, swear”), from Late Latin affidare (“to betroth; to pledge faith”), from Latin af- (a variant of ad- (intensifying prefix)) + Vulgar Latin *fīdāre (“to trust”) (from Latin fidēre, the present active infinitive of fīdō (“to put confidence in, trust; to rely upon”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to convince; to trust”)).
Obsolete To have faith in (someone); to trust.
Obsolete Chiefly followed by that or to: to formally affirm or promise (something).
Obsolete Chiefly of a man: to formally promise to marry (someone, chiefly a woman); to be engaged to; also, to marry (someone); to espouse.
Obsolete Chiefly followed by to, unto, or with: often of a parent or guardian: to formally promise that (someone) be married to another person; to affiance, to betroth.
Chiefly passive voice
Figuratively, Obsolete Followed by in, to, or unto: to bind or pledge (someone or something) to another person or thing.
Obsolete Chiefly followed by in, on, and upon: to rely on, to trust.
US, UK /ˈæfi/
Etymology Shortening of affidavit.
Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.