intimateとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

Borrowed from Latin intimātus, the perfect passive participle of intimō (“to put or bring into, to impress, to make familiar”) (see -ate (adjective forming suffix)), from intimus (“inmost, innermost, most intimate”), superlative of intus (“within”), from in (“in”); see interior.

形容詞

intimate (comparative more intimate, superlative most intimate)

1. Closely acquainted; familiar.

   Synonym: thick (informal)

   an intimate friend

   He and his sister deeply valued their intimate relationship as they didn't have much else to live for.

2. Personal; private.

   an intimate setting

3. (euphemistic) Pertaining to sex organs or underwear.
   • 2017 [2014], Elizabeth K. Briody, Ken C. Erickson, “Success despite the silos: System-wide innovation and collaboration”, in Maryann McCabe, editor, Collaborative Ethnography in Business Environments, Routledge, page 37:

     Intimate apparel departments have separate sections for bras and panties; within those sections, our intimate apparel firm would have its bras displayed separately from its panties.

4. (euphemistic) Pertaining to sexual acts or a sexual relationship.

   She enjoyed some intimate time alone with her husband.

   • 2011 October 28, Kevin Underhill, “Shape-Shifting Donkey Prostitute Strikes Again”, in Lowering the Bar‎, archived from the original on 16 December 2022:

     The man, who had been arrested for being intimate with a donkey, admitted the conduct in question but claimed that the donkey had not been a donkey when he met her at a nightclub last Saturday night, but rather a prostitute.

5. Pertaining to details that require great familiarity to know.

   The candidate showed an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of politics.

   • 2015, Slawomir Pikula, Joanna Bandorowicz-Pikula, Patrick Groves, “NMR of lipids”, in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, volume 44, Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, →ISSN, page 391:

     Grélard et al. determined the intimate structure of pseudoviral particles of hepatitis B subvirus using solid-state NMR, light scattering, and cryo-electron microscopy.

6. Very finely mixed.

   Black powder consists of an intimate mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur.

派生語

語源 2

From a substantivization of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

名詞

intimate (plural intimates)

1. A very close friend.

   Synonyms: bosom buddy, bosom friend, cater-cousin

   Only a couple of intimates had ever read his writing.

2. (in the plural intimates) Women's underwear, sleepwear, or lingerie, especially offered for sale in a store.

   Synonym: intimate apparel

   You'll find bras and panties in the intimates section upstairs.

語源 3

From Latin intimātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Cognate with French intimer.

動詞

intimate (third-person singular simple present intimates, present participle intimating, simple past and past participle intimated)

1. (ambitransitive) To suggest or disclose (something) discreetly.

   Synonym: hint

   He intimated that we should leave before the argument escalated.

   • 1625, [Samuel] Purchas, “A Diſcourſe of the Kingdome of China”, in Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], 3rd part, London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, § V, page 380:

     And ſince this Family, called Ciu, which now holdeth the Souereigntie, hath reigned, it is called Min [translating 明 (Míng)], which intimateth Splendour, and by vſuall addition of one ſyllable Ta-min [translating 大明 (Dàmíng)], that is, the Kingdome of Great Splendour, Brightneſſe or Glory.

   • 1878, Henry James, An International Episode‎:

     One of our friends, nevertheless—the younger one—intimated that he felt a disposition to interrupt a few of these soft familiarities; but his companion observed, pertinently enough, that he had better be careful.

   • 1936, Dale Carnegie, “Talk about your own mistakes first”, in How to Win Friends and Influence People, page 223:

     […] Von Bulow saved himself in time—but, canny diplomat that he was, he nevertheless had made one error: he should have begun by talking about his own shortcomings and Wilhelm's superiority—not by intimating that the Kaiser was a half-wit in need of a guardian.

   • 1981, Robert Alter, “A Literary Approach to the Bible”, in The Art of Biblical Narrative, page 11:

     The thematic point of retaliation, as we have seen, is intimated in the biblical text, but without the suggestion that Judah himself is conscious of the connections.

   • 2025 August 7, Jonathan Lemire, “Things Aren’t Going Donald Trump’s Way”, in The Atlantic‎:

     He feels deeply betrayed by his MAGA supporters who believed him when he intimated during the campaign that something was nefarious about the government’s handling of the [Epstein] case, and who now have a hard time believing him when he says their suspicions are actually bogus.

2. (transitive, India) To notify.

   I will intimate you when the details are available.

派生語

関連する語

• intimacy
• intimation

Further reading

• “intimate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “intimate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

アナグラム

• antitime