A fiancé (fee-ahn-SAY) is a man who is engaged to be married. When a couple decides they want to marry each other, they become engaged, and during that time before the wedding, the man is called the fiancé. His partner is called his fiancée (spelled with an extra “e” at the end).

The engagement period is when couples plan their wedding and prepare for married life together. During this time, you might hear someone say, “I'd like you to meet my fiancé” when introducing the person they're going to marry.

The word comes from French, where it originally meant “betrothed” or “promised.” That makes sense because when two people get engaged, they're making a promise to marry each other. In many cultures, this promise is marked by an engagement ring, though the real meaning is in the commitment two people make to build a life together.

Some people use “fiancé” for any engaged person regardless of gender, while others carefully use “fiancé” for men and “fiancée” for women. Either way, both words describe that special time between deciding to marry and actually getting married.