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Origin and history of affair

affair(n.)

c. 1300, afere, "what one has to do, ordinary business," from Anglo-French afere, Old French afaire "business, event; rank, estate" (12c., Modern French affaire), from the infinitive phrase à faire "to do," from Latin ad "to" (see ad-) + facere "to do, make" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").

Originally a Northern word according to OED, it was brought into general use and given a French spelling by Caxton (late 15c.). The general sense of "vague proceedings" (in romance, war, etc.) is attested by 1702. The meaning "an affair of the heart; a passionate episode" is from French affaire de coeur (itself attested as a French phrase in English from 1809); to have an affair with someone in this sense is by 1726, earlier have an affair of love:

'Tis manifeſtly contrary to the Law of Nature, that one Woman ſhould cohabit or have an Affair of Love with more than one Man at the ſame time. ["Pufendorf's Law of Nature and Nations," transl. J. Spavan, London, 1716]

Related: Affairs.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to affair

ado(n.)

late 14c., "conflict, fighting; difficulty, trouble," a contraction of at do, literally "to do," a dialectal formation in the Norse-influenced areas of northern England: some Scandinavian languages used at with the infinitive of a verb where Modern English uses to.

From use of the infinitive in much ado ("much to do") and similar phrases, ado came to be regarded as a noun. Compare the sense evolution in to-do and affair (from French infinitive phrase à faire "to do"). The weakened meaning "fuss" is from early 15c. Also used in Middle English for "dealings, traffic," and "sexual intercourse" (both c. 1400).

charge d'affaires(n.)

"one who transacts diplomatic business with a foreign government during the absence of a superior," 1767, from French chargé d'affaires, literally "(one) charged with affairs;" see charge (v.) + affair (n.).

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Trends of affair

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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liaison
1640s, originally in English as a cookery term for a thickening agent for sauces, from French liaison "a union, a binding together" (13c.), from Late Latin ligationem (nominative ligatio) "a binding," from past participle stem of Latin ligare "to bind" (from PIE root *leig- "to t
amour
c. 1300, "love," from Old French amor "love, affection, friendship; loved one" (11c.), from Latin amor "love, affection, strong friendly feeling" (sometimes used of feelings for sons or brothers, but it especially meant sexual love), from amare "to love" (see Amy). The accent shi
matter
c. 1200, materie, "the subject of a mental act or a course of thought, speech, or expression," from Anglo-French matere, Old French matere "subject, theme, topic; substance, content; character, education" (12c., Modern French matière) and directly from Latin materia "substance fr
romantic
Meaning "characteristic of an ideal love affair" (such as usually formed the subject of literary romances) is from 1660s....Meaning "having a love affair as a theme" is from 1960. Related: Romantical (1670s); romantically; romanticality....
thing
also of Old Frisian thing "assembly, council, suit, matter, thing," Middle Dutch dinc "court-day, suit, plea, concern, affair..., thing," Dutch ding "thing," Old High German ding "public assembly for judgment and business, lawsuit," German Ding "affair...sense evolution, compare French chose, Spanish cosa "thing," from Latin causa "judicial process, lawsuit, case;" Latin res "affair...
sake
dispute; blame, sin, guilt;" from Old English sacu "a cause at law, crime, dispute, guilt," from Proto-Germanic *sako "affair...Old Frisian seke "strife, dispute, matter, thing," Dutch zaak "lawsuit, cause, sake, thing," German Sache "thing, matter, affair...
jollity
.); "love; a love affair" (c. 1300, hence in jollity "by fornication, out of wedlock"); "gallantry" (1530s); "state of splendor...
occasion
late 14c., occasioun, "opportunity; grounds for action or feeling; state of affairs that makes something else possible; a happening, occurrence leading to some result," from Old French ochaison, ocasion "cause, reason, excuse, pretext; opportunity" (13c.) or directly from Latin o
least
Old English læst, earlier læsest "smallest, lowest in power or position" (superlative of little (adj.)), from Proto-Germanic superlative *laisista-, from PIE root *leis- (2) "small" (see less). Qualifying phrase at least "not to say more than is certainly true" is Middle English
stale
c. 1300, "freed from dregs or lees" (of ale, wine, etc.), probably literally "having stood long enough to clear," from Old French estale "settled, clear," from estal "place, fixed position," from Frankish *stal- "position," from Proto-Germanic *stol-, from PIE root *stel- "to put

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