intimacy

Etymology

It is formed from English intimate + -acy, from the adjective intimate.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Johnson (1755) also derived it from intimate.^[7] The adjective comes from Late Latin intimātus, the past participle of intimō (“to make known, announce”), from Latin intimus (“inmost, innermost; a close friend”).^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The state of being personally close to someone; close friendship or familiarity: 1641, in J. Jackson's True Evangelical Temper.^[2][5] Etymonline dates it to the 1640s,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1635–45.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline glosses the early word as "close union or conjunction" as well as intimate friendship.^[4] A euphemistic use for sexual intercourse followed in 1676,^[2][3] but according to Etymonline its modern currency in that sense comes from euphemistic use in newspapers, by 1882.^[4] From 1648 to 1771 the word could also mean the inner or inmost nature of something, a sense now obsolete.^[2][3] Closeness of observation or knowledge is recorded from 1714, and a close connection or union between things, a rare use, from 1720.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "close familiarity".^[7]

Timeline

• 1641 – close friendship or familiarity.^[2][5]
• 1648 – inner or inmost nature (obsolete by 1771).^[2]
• 1676 – euphemistic, sexual intercourse.^[2][3]
• 1714 – closeness of observation or knowledge.^[2][3]
• 1720 – close connection or union (rare).^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as close familiarity.^[7]
• 1882 – euphemistic sexual sense current in newspapers.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Close or warm friendship or personal familiarity; a close personal relationship marked by affection: Years of letters had built a real intimacy between the two cousins.^[8][5][2]
2. Close association with or detailed knowledge of something: his intimacy with the hill paths.^[5][2]
3. (euphemistic, often plural) Sexual relations.^[8][2][3]
4. (obsolete, 1648–1771) Inner or inmost nature; an inward quality.^[2][3]

Related words

• intimate
• intimation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins