dictionary definitions for "intimate"


From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:

  intimate
      adj 1: marked by close aquaintance, association, or familiarity;
             "intimate friend"; "intimate relations between 
             economics, politics, and legal principles" - V.L.
             Parrington
      2: having or fostering a warm or friendly atmosphere;
         especially through smallness and informality; "had a cozy
         chat"; "a relaxed informal manner"; "an intimate cocktail
         lounge"; "the small room was cozy and intimate" [syn:
         cozy, informal]
      3: having mutual interests or affections; of established
         friendship; "on familiar terms"; "pretending she is on an
         intimate footing with those she slanders" [syn:
         familiar]
      4: involved in a sexual relationship; "the intimate (or sexual)
         relations between husband and wife"; "she had been
         intimate with many men" [syn: sexual]
      5: innermost or essential; "the inner logic of Cubism"; "the
         internal contradictions of the theory"; "the intimate
         structure of matter" [syn: inner, internal]
      6: thoroughly acquainted with through study or experience;
         "this girl, so intimate with nature"-W.H.Hudson;
         "knowledgeaIble about the technique of painting"- Herbert
         Read [syn: intimate with, knowledgeable,
         {knowledgeable about(p)}]
      n : someone to whom private matters are confided [syn:
          confidant]
      v 1: give to understand; "I insinuated that I did not like his
           wife" [syn: adumbrate, insinuate]
      2: imply as a possibility; "The evidence suggests a need for
         more clarification" [syn: suggest]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Intimate \In"ti*mate\, n.
     An intimate friend or associate; a confidant. --Gov. of the
     Tongue.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Intimate \In"ti*mate\, a. [Formerly intime, L. intimus, a
     superl. corresponding to the compar. interior: cf. F. intime.
     The form intimate is due to confusion with intimate, v. t.
     See Interior.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Innermost; inward; internal; deep-seated; hearty. "I knew
        from intimate impulse." --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Near; close; direct; thorough; complete.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He was honored with an intimate and immediate
              admission.                            --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Close in friendship or acquaintance; familiar;
        confidential; as, an intimate friend.
  
     Syn: Familiar; near; friendly; confidential.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Intimate \In"ti*mate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Intimated; p. pr. &
     vb. n. Intimating.] [L. intimatus, p. p. of intimare to
     put, bring, drive, or press into, to announce, make known,
     from intimus the inmost. See Intimate, a.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To announce; to declare; to publish; to communicate; to
        make known. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He, incontinent, did proclaim and intimate open war.
                                                    --E. Hall.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              So both conspiring 'gan to intimate
              Each other's grief.                   --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To suggest obscurely or indirectly; to refer to remotely;
        to give slight notice of; to hint; as, he intimated his
        intention of resigning his office.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The names of simple ideas and substances, with the
              abstract ideas in the mind, intimate some real
              existence, from which was derived their original
              pattern.                              --Locke.
        [1913 Webster]


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