af·fair 
(
-fâr
)
KEY NOUN:
- Something done or to be done; business.
- affairs Transactions and other matters of professional or public business: affairs of state.
- An occurrence, event, or matter: The senator's death was a tragic affair.
- A social function.
- An object or a contrivance: Their first car was a ramshackle affair.
- A matter of personal concern.
- affairs Personal business: get one's affairs in order.
- A matter causing public scandal and controversy: the Dreyfus affair.
- A romantic and sexual relationship, sometimes one of brief duration, between two people who are not married to each other.
ETYMOLOGY:Middle English
affaire, from Old French
afaire, from
a faire,
to do :
a,
to (from Latin
ad; see
ad-) +
faire,
to do (from
facere; see
dh
- in Indo-European roots)
SYNONYMS: affair, business, concern, lookout
These nouns denote something that involves one personally:
I won't comment on that; it's not my affair. That's none of your business. Mind your own concerns. It's your lookout to file your application on time.
