It’s always baffling when I think to look up a word that I take for granted and realize that it’s a relatively new addition to the English language. I had this experience with the words fiancee/fiance a couple years ago, when I first began writing Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland. My characters are engaged at the beginning. The year is 1783.
But she isn’t his fiancee. Nope, that word didn’t come into use until 1853. And interestingly, the male version “fiance” didn’t follow until 1864. An eleven year gap between calling the woman a fiancee and the man a fiance! Interesting, isn’t it?
This seems like an incredibly late addition to me . . . at least when I consider how many stories I have that take place prior to 1864. 😉 It took me a good long while to figure out how to get around that one in a way that sounds natural.
But no fear–we still have options. “Intended” and “betrothed” are legit. So in Annapolis, for instance, Lark fights with her intended in the first chapter. And later in the book Emerson chases after his betrothed. (Not that those are gender specific, mind you.)
Yet another example of how learning something was at first a pain . . . but you know, it actually helped me create the voice I needed for the time period, so I’m glad to I thought to look it up. =) It’s the little things that make a voice. 😉
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
I NEVER would have guessed it was such a "late entry" either. Enjoyed this.
I never even realized that the word fiancee/fiance wasn't being used in the historicals I read! Good one, Roseanna :o)