Confidential is an obsolete word that is often difficult to interpret. Moreover, it has several interpretations. Details about the fact that this is a “confidant”, its origin will be discussed in the article.
Many interpretations
If you turn to dictionaries, you can find several meanings of "confidant". These include the following.
- A ruler or dignitary has a confidant, a favorite, a soulmate who enjoys special favor.
- A tube designed to store writing pens.
- In dramatic works dating back to the era of classicism, this is a close friend, confidant of the protagonist.
However, the interpretation of the studied word does not end there.
Other values
Among them you can find such as:
- Special term for part of a riding horse harness. It is a belt that crosses in the chest area. One of them goes down to the girth, passing between the front legs.
- Pectoral - quadrangular breastplate,belonging to the vestments of the high priest. It contains twelve different gems. They form four rows, each of which contains three stones. They are engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The breastplate was attached to the ephod with gold chains and a blue cord. Ephod - part of the vestment covering the chest and back.
To understand that this is a "confidant", you should give examples of the use of this word.
Sample sentences
Here are some of them.
- R. L. Stevenson's novel The Suicide Club tells of a young officer who was attached to the prince's person and was his constant confidante. He was distinguished by unprecedented courage, which bordered on recklessness.
- Amethyst is the gem that occupies the third place in the third row in the breastplate of the high priest of Judah.
- Analyzing the poems of Apollo Maikov, Belinsky wrote that the poet is the being most strongly affected by the direct effects of natural phenomena: he is her favorite, and her son, and the confidant of her secrets.
- The guardsmen, who were in the service of Ivan the Terrible, were simultaneously in the roles of bodyguards, friends, advisers and confidants of the king.
- In one of his poems, Alexander Pushkin called his friend Delvig "confidant of the gods".
- This worthy man, who combined the advantages of charm, kindness and pleasant manners, was a reliable support for the poor and a sincere confidantrich.
- St. Ignatius wrote about the pharaoh, who expressed a desire that his confidant marched into the land of Canaan, accompanied by due magnificence.
- A rich man always has something to use, and therefore there are those who want to stuff themselves into his mistresses, friends and confidants.
Etymology
To understand that this is a “confidant”, knowledge about the origin of the studied lexeme will help. The word comes from the now obsolete noun persi, meaning "chest".
It originates in Old Church Slavonic, where there is the word "prs", and in Old Church Slavonic, where there is "prs". Both of them go back to the Proto-Slavic language and are related to the Lithuanian piršys, which means "horse's chest", as well as the ancient Indian fars - "side", "rib", "side".
The noun “confidant” got into the Russian language as a tracing paper of the Greek epistethios, formed from epi (on) and stethos (chest). Thus, this word literally means what is on the chest. Hence the name of the items worn in this area. For example, a pectoral cross. The same quill tube, part of the harness, the pectoral breastplate of the Israeli high priest mentioned above.
The question arises: why is a friend, an adviser, and a confidant called a confidante? According to the researchers, most likely, there is an association with a person who is loved, caressed, nurtured, pressed to the chest, like a baby. That is, there is the same connection with the word "Persi".
