Etymograph

English

affy

Affy comes from Middle English affien ‘to have faith, trust’, from Late Latin affidare ‘to betroth’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to convince’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-1‘to convince’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīdō1‘to put confidence in, trust’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfidēre1present active infinitive of fīdō
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fīdāre1‘to trust’reconstructed
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaffidare1‘to betroth’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400afier1
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500affien1‘to have faith, trust’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593affy1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English affy
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “Marcus Andronicus, so I do affie / In thy…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-Wiktionary, English affy‘to convince’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfīdōWiktionary, English affy‘to put confidence in, trust’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfidēreWiktionary, English affypresent active infinitive of fīdō
  4. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*fīdāreWiktionary, English affy‘to trust’reconstructed
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaffidareWiktionary, English affy‘to betroth’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400afierWiktionary, English affy
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500affienWiktionary, English affy‘to have faith, trust’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1588–1593affyWiktionary, English affy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus: “Marcus Andronicus, so I do affie / In thy…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to convince’

federal, federation, confederate, abide, fidelity, defiance, bode, defy, infidel, foi, bide, fealty, confidante, perfidy, 24 more

through Latin fīdō ‘to put confidence in, trust’

confidence, confident, fiduciary, affidavit, confidant, confide, diffident, 2 more

Today it means

verb To have faith in (someone); to trust.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “affy”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- / affy

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