affair

What it means

1. in pluraloftenSomething which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public.

   a difficult affair to manage

   2 more examples

   Responsibility is my affair, reciprocity is his.

   1992, Zygmunt Bauman, Mortality, Immortality and Other Life Strategies, →ISBN, page 45

   There are a number of issues external to the institution that can influence the fiscal management of student affairs.

   2011, George S. McClellan, Jeremy Stringer, The Handbook of Student Affairs Administration, →ISBN

   Synonyms: matter, concern

2. Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.

   an affair of love

   an intrigue

   3 more examples

   an affair of honor

   a duel

   The house was a ramshackle affair.

   The Creole affair is important because, from the slaves' standpoint, the Creole affair was the most successful slave revolt in American history.

   2014, Arthur T. Downey, The Creole Affair, →ISBN

   Synonyms: goings-on, happening, befalling, episode, instance, event, goings-on, happening

3. governmentAn action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.

In a sentence

a difficult affair to manage

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
2. Proto-Italic*ad
3. Latinad
4. Old Frencha
5. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
6. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁k-
7. Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁kyéti
8. Proto-Italic*θakjō
9. Proto-Italic*fakjō
10. Latinfacio
11. Old Frenchfaire
12. Old Frenchafaire
13. Middle Englishafere
14. Englishaffair

From Middle English afere, affere, from Old French afaire, from a- + faire (“to do”), from Latin ad- + facere (“to do”). See fact, and compare ado.