Built from the Latin superlative for 'innermost', intimate captures closeness at its most fundamental — the knowledge and connection that lies deepest within.
Closely acquainted or familiar; involving very close personal connection or private matters.
From Latin intimatus, past participle of intimare ('to make known, announce'), itself from intimus ('innermost'), the superlative form of intus ('within'). The Latin adjective intimus literally meant 'most inward' — the deepest, most interior part of something. The semantic path from 'making something known' to 'deeply personal' reflects how the most private knowledge is what lies innermost. English borrowed the adjective directly from Latin intimus in the early 17th century, while the verb
English has three distinct words spelled 'intimate': the adjective meaning 'close' (stressed on the first syllable), the verb meaning 'to hint or suggest' (stressed on the last), and the noun meaning 'a close friend'. All three trace back to the same Latin root intimus, but they entered English through slightly different paths and at different times, making intimate one of English's tidiest three-way homographs.