| 释义 |
confidante|ˌkɒnfɪˈdɑːnt, -æ-, ˈkɒn-|
[Cf. prec. It may be that this was first formed to represent the sound of the F. confidente, and that the masc. confidant was formed from it. The feminine is the more common in use.]
1. A female confidant.
1709Lady M. W. Montague Lett. Miss A. Wortley 5 Sept., You are the only creature that I have made my confidante. 1752Fielding Amelia ii. i, I concluded with begging her to be the confidante of my amour. 1839–40W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 42 What is a lover without a confidante? I thought at once of my sister Sophy. 1883Century XXVII. 150 She was the confidante of all our love affairs.
2. Also -ente. A name given by the English designer George Hepplewhite (d. 1786) to a species of settee; also in extended use (see quots. 1925, 1948).
1794Hepplewhite Cabinet-Maker & Upholst. Guide (ed. 3) Title-p., A great variety of patterns for Chairs Stools Sofas Confidante Duchesse Side Boards [etc.]. 1925Penderel-Brodhurst & Layton Gloss. Eng. Furniture, Confidente, an upholstered settee with somewhat triangular seats beyond the arms at each end. 1948S. Giedion Mechanization takes Command v. 374 Two chairs coupled on an s-plan were named a confidante. Confidantes were also made of three chairs, joined like the spokes of a wheel. |