affair

Forms

1.Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public.
- Responsibility is my affair, reciprocity is his.
- There are a number of issues external to the institution that can influence the fiscal management of student affairs.
2.Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.
- The house was a ramshackle affair.
- The Creole affair is important because, from the slaves' standpoint, the Creole affair was the most successful slave revolt in American history.
3.An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
4.A material object (vaguely designated).
- This garden is a ramshackle affair.
- He used a hook-shaped affair with a long handle to unlock the car.
- She wore a starched white affair on her head, had a wart on one cheek, and silver-rimmed spectacles hung on the tip of her nose.

Common· #1607

From Middle English afere, affere, from Old French afaire, from a- + faire (“to do”), from Latin ad- + facere (“to do”).

See fact, and compare ado.