英和和英

語源

Compound of bosom +‎ friend. Compare typologically Russian напе́рсник (napérsnik), akin to Proto-Slavic *pьrsь, Russian закады́чный друг (zakadýčnyj drug), akin to кады́к (kadýk)).

発音

名詞

bosom friend (plural bosom friends)

1. A very close friend.

   Synonyms: bosom buddy, cater-cousin, intimate, (US, slang) ace boon coon

   • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:

     I could not have believed it! And to propose that she and I should unite to form a musical club! One would fancy we were bosom friends! And Mrs. Weston!

   • 1903 September 26, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Empty House”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905, →OCLC:

     But I cared a great deal for the much more formidable person who was behind him, the bosom friend of Moriarty, the man who dropped the rocks over the cliff, the most cunning and dangerous criminal in London.

   • 1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, →OCLC:

     “A—a what kind of friend?”
     “A bosom friend—an intimate friend, you know—a really kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul. I’ve dreamed of meeting her all my life. […] ”

   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

     Jerry was Morel’s bosom friend, and Mrs. Morel disliked him.

   • 1982, Witter Bynner, The Chinese Translations‎, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 225:

     I pour you the farewell wine as you set out from the capital—
     Soon I shall be left behind here by my bosom-friend.
     In your sail-boat of sweet cinnamon-wood
     You will float again toward your own thatch door