confidantn.adj.

/kɒnfɪˈdɑːnt/

/kɒnfɪˈdant/

/ˈkɒnfɪdɑːnt/

/ˈkɒnfɪdant/

Etymology: This appears, with its feminine confidante, after 1700, when ˈconfident (with stress on the first syllable) had already been in use for nearly a century in a kindred sense. Cotgrave has French confidant, -ante, with confident as a by-form; on the other hand, Littré quotes confident from the 16th cent. onward, and knows nothing of confidant. The latter may however have been taken in English as the correct French form; or possibly the English was only an attempt to represent the pronunciation of the French -ent, -ente. The verb in Italian (and Provençal) is confidar, which would give a participle confidante; but this is not found in the required sense.

A. n.

a. ‘A person trusted with private affairs, commonly with affairs of love’ (Johnson). In later use applied somewhat more widely, so as to take the place of confident n. 2.[In Pepys' Diary 1 May 1666 where editors print confidant, Pepys wrote confident.]

ΘΠ

the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend > confidant

privya1325

secretarya1387

counsel-keeper1600

confident1619

secretara1628

trustee1641

troutc1661

confidante1709

confidant1741

1741 Mem. Martinus Scriblerus 54 in A. Pope Wks. II Martin..composed his Billet-doux, and at the time appointed went to entrust it to the hands of his Confident.

1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle I. xxxi. 237 He..proffered his service..as agent, mediator, or confidant.

1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. x. 348 I repeat, that I am not her confidant.

1836–49 B. H. Smart Walker Remodelled Confidant, Confidante, a person entrusted with matters pertaining to the lighter commerce of life, as those of love, gallantry, and fashion.

1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany III. v. i. 19 Cardinal Wolsey, the king's confidant.

1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sketches I. iv. i. 366 He was accustomed to make her his confidant in his ecclesiastical proceedings.

b. with of: cf. confident adj. 2b.

1874 H. R. Reynolds John the Baptist vi. §1. 368 The explanation..seems to me to lie in the possibility that Jesus had made John the confidant of His fierce and awful trial.

B. adj.

Entrusted with secrets; privy to (a secret matter). rare. [Compare French confident in Littré.]

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > entrusted with secrets

privya1393

derna1400

secret1470

secre?1553

private1601

conscious1609

confident of1659

fellow-knowing1662

confidant1816

1816 W. Scott Antiquary III. iii. 65 I well know you are confidant to one dreadful secret.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	confidant
释义	confidantn.adj. /kɒnfɪˈdɑːnt//kɒnfɪˈdant//ˈkɒnfɪdɑːnt//ˈkɒnfɪdant/ Etymology: This appears, with its feminine confidante, after 1700, when ˈconfident (with stress on the first syllable) had already been in use for nearly a century in a kindred sense. Cotgrave has French confidant, -ante, with confident as a by-form; on the other hand, Littré quotes confident from the 16th cent. onward, and knows nothing of confidant. The latter may however have been taken in English as the correct French form; or possibly the English was only an attempt to represent the pronunciation of the French -ent, -ente. The verb in Italian (and Provençal) is confidar, which would give a participle confidante; but this is not found in the required sense. A. n. a. ‘A person trusted with private affairs, commonly with affairs of love’ (Johnson). In later use applied somewhat more widely, so as to take the place of confident n. 2.[In Pepys' Diary 1 May 1666 where editors print confidant, Pepys wrote confident.] ΘΠ the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend > confidant privya1325 secretarya1387 counsel-keeper1600 confident1619 secretara1628 trustee1641 troutc1661 confidante1709 confidant1741 1741 Mem. Martinus Scriblerus 54 in A. Pope Wks. II Martin..composed his Billet-doux, and at the time appointed went to entrust it to the hands of his Confident. 1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle I. xxxi. 237 He..proffered his service..as agent, mediator, or confidant. 1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. x. 348 I repeat, that I am not her confidant. 1836–49 B. H. Smart Walker Remodelled Confidant, Confidante, a person entrusted with matters pertaining to the lighter commerce of life, as those of love, gallantry, and fashion. 1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany III. v. i. 19 Cardinal Wolsey, the king's confidant. 1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sketches I. iv. i. 366 He was accustomed to make her his confidant in his ecclesiastical proceedings. b. with of: cf. confident adj. 2b. Π 1874 H. R. Reynolds John the Baptist vi. §1. 368 The explanation..seems to me to lie in the possibility that Jesus had made John the confidant of His fierce and awful trial. B. adj. Entrusted with secrets; privy to (a secret matter). rare. [Compare French confident in Littré.] ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > entrusted with secrets privya1393 derna1400 secret1470 secre?1553 private1601 conscious1609 confident of1659 fellow-knowing1662 confidant1816 1816 W. Scott Antiquary III. iii. 65 I well know you are confidant to one dreadful secret. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.adj.1741
随便看	to get a person's nannygoat to get a person's nose open to get a person's number to get a person's shirt out to get a point to get a rat to get a result to get a results to get a riding to get a rise to get a rocket to get a room to get a run for one's money to get a rush to get a rustle on to get a settling to get a shift on to get a snitch on to get a soaker to get a spark up to get a stand to get a stomach to get a thing on his etc feet to get a thing on his feet to get a thing on his her feet