from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Intimate \In"ti*mate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Intimated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Intimating}.] [L. intimatus, p. p. of intimare to
put, bring, drive, or press into, to announce, make known,
from intimus the inmost. See {Intimate}, a.]
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1. To announce; to declare; to publish; to communicate; to
make known. [Obs.]
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He, incontinent, did proclaim and intimate open war.
--E. Hall.
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So both conspiring 'gan to intimate
Each other's grief. --Spenser.
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2. To suggest obscurely or indirectly; to refer to remotely;
to give slight notice of; to hint; as, he intimated his
intention of resigning his office.
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The names of simple ideas and substances, with the
abstract ideas in the mind, intimate some real
existence, from which was derived their original
pattern. --Locke.
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