English

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Etymology

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From French confidente.

Noun

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confidante (plural confidantes)

  1. A female confidant.
    • 2019 May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are Waged On and Off the Game Of Thrones Battlefield (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club[1], archived from the original on 28 January 2021:
      Dany’s descent into madness is coming, of that there’s no doubt, especially given that the episode ends with the execution of her confidante Missandei.
  2. A type of settee having a seat at each end at right angles to the main seats.
    • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 20:
      Meanwhile, Sally peels herself from the stage's only prop – a green-velvet confidante – and staggers off into the wings.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of confidant (male).
    • 1847, Harriette Smythies, A Warning to Lives: or, the Platonic Lover. A Novel, volume 1, page 107:
      To Major Smiley, as his friend, his adviser, and his confidante, Adolphus Fitzopal had opened his heart []
    • 1976, Paul Misner, Papacy and Development: Newman and the Primacy of the Pope, →ISBN, page 1:
      Henry Wilberforce was one of his few confidantes, certainly the one of longest standing, now that Bowden and Froude were gone and Rogers declined to correspond with him.
    • 1994 [1989], Ignacio Larrañaga, translated by Jennie M. Ibarra, Brother Francis of Assisi, →ISBN, page 45:
      The fortunate confidante is lost in anonymity. He is a character who has always intrigued biographers [] [but] nothing is known about his name or his personal history.

Translations

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Italian

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Participle

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confidante (plural confidanti)

  1. present participle of confidare