Affy
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An affidavit to be signed by a contest winner to confirm eligibility. obsolete, slang
"If you have won a monthly prize, they will send you an affy and have you send it back. Then your prize comes from a courier."
- 1 To have faith in (someone); to trust. obsolete, transitive
- 2 Chiefly followed by that or to: to formally affirm or promise (something). obsolete, transitive
- 3 Chiefly of a man: to formally promise to marry (someone, chiefly a woman); to be engaged to; also, to marry (someone); to espouse. obsolete, transitive
"He, though affide unto a former love, / To whom his faith he firmely ment to hold, / […] Her graunted love, but with affection cold […]"
- 4 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. obsolete, transitive
- 5 Followed by in, to, or unto: to bind or pledge (someone or something) to another person or thing. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
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- 6 Chiefly followed by in, on, and upon: to rely on, to trust. intransitive, obsolete
"Marcus Andronicus, so I do affie / In thy vprightnesse and Integrity […]"
Example
More examples"He, though affide unto a former love, / To whom his faith he firmely ment to hold, / […] Her graunted love, but with affection cold […]"
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”)).
Shortening of affidavit.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.