intimacy

/ˈɪntəməsi/

/ˈɪntɪməsi/

Other forms: intimacies

Intimacy is closeness with another person, like the intimacy that develops between friends as you tell one another your life stories and all your secrets and dreams for the future.

The noun intimacy comes from the Latin word intimare, which means “impress,” or “make familiar,” which comes from the Latin intimus, meaning “inmost.” Intimacy is a close, family-like connection. There is another kind of intimacy — physical intimacy, which comes from having a sexual relationship, which, one hopes, fosters the other kind of intimacy as well.

Definitions of intimacy

1. noun

   a feeling of being intimate and belonging together
   synonyms: closeness

   types:

   togetherness

   affectionate closeness

   type of:

   belonging

   happiness felt in a secure relationship
2. noun

   close or warm friendship
   “the absence of fences created a mysterious intimacy in which no one knew privacy”

   synonyms: closeness, familiarity

   type of:

   friendliness

   a friendly disposition
3. noun

   a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship
   synonyms: affair, affaire, amour, involvement, liaison