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Glite Dictionary
affaire d'honneur

affaire d'honneur

9.9
A planned fight with weapons to settle an insult to a person's honour
  • noun
  • /æˈfɛr dəˈʌnər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : duelo de honor
  • The argument between the two gentlemen ended in an affaire d'honneur at dawn.

Examples

  • The two gentlemen agreed to an affaire d'honneur to resolve their dispute.

  • Historical novels often describe an affaire d'honneur as a way to resolve insults.

  • He challenged his rival to an affaire d'honneur to defend his family's name.

  • An affaire d'honneur can lead to tragic consequences.

  • The argument between the two gentlemen ended in an affaire d'honneur at dawn.

  • He challenged his rival to an affaire d'honneur to defend his family's name.

  • The two gentlemen agreed to an affaire d'honneur to resolve their dispute.

Synonyms

duel
vsaffaire d'honneur
27 6.5

A formal fight between two people with weapons to settle a dispute

is a prearranged deadly combat meant specifically to resolve an honor dispute
duello
vsaffaire d'honneur
  • Archaic
9.9

A formal fight between two people to settle a disagreement

is the same act but typically involves deadly weapons and strict honor rules

Antonyms

resolution
199 3.7

Solving a problem or ending a disagreement

reconciliation
114 5.3

A return to friendly relations after a disagreement

Surface Forms

affaire d'honneur singular
affaires d'honneur plural

Morphology

affaire + d'honneur

The phrase literally combines 'affaire' (affair/matter) and 'd'honneur' (of honour), so a learner who knows those constituents can infer it relates to a matter concerning honour. However, the specific conventionalized sense 'a duel' is a culturally specific, phraseological extension of that literal meaning and not fully predictable from the parts alone, especially since this is a fixed French idiom rather than a productive English construction.

Etymology

Affaire d'honneur comes from French and literally shows affaire 'matter' and d'honneur 'of honor'. It named arranged meetings where two men fought to settle an insult, so today it means 'a duel'.