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Thursday, October 27, 2005

confidant: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for October 27 is:

confidant \KAHN-fuh-dahnt\ noun
: one to whom secrets are entrusted; especially : intimate

Example sentence:
Only Julian?s closest confidants knew that he was hunting for a new job.

Did you know?
If you're confident in the trustworthiness of your confidants, you've inadvertently guessed the origins of the word "confidant." It comes from the French word "confident," which in turn derives from the Italian adjective "confidente," meaning "confident, trustworthy." The Italian word, in turn, can be traced back to the Latin verb "confidere," "to confide" (the root of which is "fidere," meaning "to trust"). Other descendants of "confidere" in English include "confide," "confidence," and "confident," as well as "confidential" (which was formed from "confidence").

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