confab

English edit

WOTD – 21 October 2020

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnfæb/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈfæb/, /kɑn-/
(General Australian) IPA^(key): /kɔnˈfæb/
Rhymes: -æb
Hyphenation: con‧fab

Etymology 1 edit

Clipping of confabulation,^[1] from Middle English confabulacion (“conversation”),^[2] from Latin confābulātiōnem, from cōnfābulārī + -tiōnem (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results);^[3] see further at etymology 2.

Noun edit

confab (countable and uncountable, plural confabs)

(informal) Clipping of confabulation (“a casual chat or talk”).
Synonym: conflab
- 1761, J[oseph] Reed, The Register-office: A Farce of Two Acts. […], London: […] T[homas] Davies, […], →OCLC, act II, page 24:
  But, Sir, as I am in haſte, we had better refer the Diſpute at preſent—any other Time I am at your Service for a Confab of a few Hours—I ſhall run thro' my Buſineſs with as brief Prolixity as poſſible— [...]
- 1810 January 4, Aaron Burr, edited by Matthew L. Davis, The Private Journal of Aaron Burr, during His Residence of Four Years in Europe; with Selections from His Correspondence. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1838, →OCLC, pages 386–387:
  [January 4, 1810.] [...] At six to la Baronne Knebel, chez lui Princess Caroline. Tea and cheerful confab.
- 1902, Francis Lynde, “In which I Taste the Quality of Mercy”, in The Master of Appleby: […], New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC, page 92:
  Some confab followed, and I overheard enough to tell me that a scouting party had come in, bringing a prisoner.
- 1919 January, John Jay Chapman, “Below the Cataract: The Great Moment of Calm between War and Peace”, in Albert Lee, editor, Vanity Fair, volume 11, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Vanity Fair Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 68, column 4:
  The delegates must, of course, hold endless private confabs before they meet in order to take any formal action.
- 2013, Ciro [Roberto] Bustos, “Onwards to Bolivia and Argentina: May—June 1963”, in Ann Wright, transl., Che Wants to See You: The Untold Story of Che in Bolivia, London, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Verso, →ISBN, part 2 (Argentina), page 106:
  A few unexpected nerves took over as we waited to board the São Paulo plane. Phone calls and confabs behind the scenes between officials holding the pile of passports had us worried.
- 2015, Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett, “Introduction”, in Carolina Israelite: How Harry Golden Made Us Care about Jews, the South, and Civil Rights, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 2:
  Soom after the Illinois governor won the 1952 Democratic Party nomination, [Harry] Golden fired off several witty memos to Stevenson [i.e., Adlai Stevenson II], who in turn invited him to come to Springfield for a campaign speech-writing confab.
- 2018 November 14, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 21 November 2019:
  […] The princess confab also leads into a scene featuring Vanellope and the cast of Slaughter Race that probably shouldn't be spoiled.
- 2022 May 25, Charley Locke, “‘Grandfluencers’ Are Sharing a New Vision of Old Age”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:
  On a blistering afternoon earlier this month, Jessay Martin, 68, headed across the street for the usual poolside confab, stopping to grab a Bud Light Seltzer Pineapple from the fridge on his way out to the patio.

Related terms edit

Translations edit

casual chat or talk — see confabulation

Etymology 2 edit

Clipping of confabulate,^[4] from Latin cōnfābulārī + English -ate (suffix forming verbs with the sense of acting in the specified manner). Cōnfābulārī is the present active infinitive of cōnfābulor (“to converse; to discuss”), from con- (prefix indicating a bringing together) + fābulor (“to chat, converse, talk; to make up a story”) (from fābula (“discourse, narrative; fable, story”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say, speak”)) + for (“to say, speak, talk”)).^[5]

Verb edit

confab (third-person singular simple present confabs, present participle confabbing, simple past and past participle confabbed)

(intransitive, informal) Clipping of confabulate (“to speak casually with somebody; to chat”).
Synonym: (obsolete, rare) confable
- 1826, [John Galt], chapter XXVI, in The Last of the Lairds: Or, The Life and Opinions of Malachi Mailings, Esq. of Auldbiggings, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 230:
  [T]o mak conquests o' bits o' lasses, ye would hae been sitting in your forlorn chair, confabbing wi' Jock, about whether by rope, or gun, was the easiest way o' deeing.
- 1878 November, “Two Handsome People; Two Jealous People; and a Ring!”, in Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, volume LIV, London: Richard Bentley & Son, […]; New York, N.Y.: Willmer and Rogers; Paris: Galignani, published March 1870, →OCLC, chapter II, page 398:
  He had actually argued and "confabbed" with a strange jeweller, and he had asked him questions about his wife; his delicate little Hélène!
- 1987, Peter Bowen, chapter 26, in Yellowstone Kelly: Gentleman and Scout, New York, N.Y.: Open Road Media, published 2013, →ISBN:
  We had a cold supper, and then Bill and me walked out on the prairie, to confab a little about what was ahead.

Translations edit

to speak casually with somebody — see confabulate

References edit

^ “confab, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confab, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ “confabūlāciōn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
^ “confabulation, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confabulation, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ “confab, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confab, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ Compare “confabulate, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confabulate, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[1] “confab, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confab, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[2] “confabūlāciōn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[3] “confabulation, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confabulation, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[4] “confab, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confab, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[5] Compare “confabulate, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1891; “confabulate, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

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