Affiant

It's not often that I come across a word that I have not heard. It is even less often that when I do see a new word that I can't at least roughly discern the meaning of it's root.

Someone today wanted to know what the word 'affiant' meant. I didn't hear it in the context of a sentence so I couldn't even begin to define it. In fact, the spell checker built in to Firefox didn't even know what the word was.

From Dictionary.com here is the word 'Affiant'

af·fi·ant /əˈfaɪənt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh-fahy-uhnt]

–noun Law.

a person who makes an affidavit.

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[Origin: 1800–10, Americanism; obs. v. affy to confide (afier; see affiance) + -ant]