When a man or woman becomes engaged with a person to be married in the near future, during the period from this engagement up to marriage the couple is said to be engaged and individually, the man is said to be the fiancé of the woman while the woman is referred to as the fiancée of the man. In many parts of India, the woman introduces her fiancé as her would be husband whereas the man introduces his fiancée as his would be wife. This creates some confusion in the minds of some people as the proper term should be the wife to be or husband to be. Let us take a closer look at the difference between fiance and would be.
What does Fiance mean?
The man who has got engaged and is going to get married to a woman at some future date is called the fiancé of the woman. The man remains a fiancé till he gets married. This means that though the man is still a bachelor, he has entered a promise called betrothal to marry a woman and as such enters into a special stage where he is a fiancé. The period of courtship may vary between a few hours in cases where the marriage takes place on the same day of engagement to several years as is seen in child marriage. The word is of French origin and comes from the French word fiancer that means to promise.
What does Would be mean?
Would be is a phrase or term that is commonly used in India where a man or woman who has got engaged and is about to be married is referred to as a would be husband or would be wife of his or her spouse. When you see a couple in a party and the man introduces the girl as his would be wife, you infer that she is the girl with whom the man is engaged and will marry him at some future date. Meet my would be husband or meet my would be wife are heard very commonly in India where the courtship is normally for a period of few months and marriages take place in auspicious months of the year. This is a term that is not used in the western world which is why people are amused and wonder about the meaning of the word.
What is the difference between Fiance and Would Be?
• Fiance and would be are terms that are used for the same person who has got engaged, but is still not married.
• The term fiancé comes from French word fiancer that means to promise with engagement, literally meaning the man has promised to marry the woman in the future.
• Would be is a term that is used only in India to refer to future husband or wife.
• People introduce the girl they are engaged to as their would be wife while girls introduce their husbands to be as their would be husbands.
Photos By: Aaron Alexander (CC BY-ND 2.0), kunjan detroja (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Further Reading:
- Difference Between Fiance and Fiancee