English
confidante
Confidante comes from French confidente ‘female equivalent of confident’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to trust’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-‘to trust’root as named · steps between not traced
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconfidente‘female equivalent of confident’
- Englishearliest quotation 1847confidante
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeydʰ-‘to trust’root as named · steps between not traced
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconfidente‘female equivalent of confident’
- Englishearliest quotation 1847confidante
Earliest quotation: 1847, Harriette Smythies, A Warning to Lives: or: “To Major Smiley, as his friend, his adviser, and…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to trust’
federal, federation, confidence, defy, abide, fidelity, confederate, defiance, bode, affidavit, fiduciary, foi, fealty, bide, infidel, perfidy, diffident, 28 more
Today it means
noun A female confidant.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- / confidante