intimation

From Middle French intimation, from Latin intimatio

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪntəˈmeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

intimation (plural intimations)

1. The act of intimating
2. the thing intimated.
3. Announcement; declaration.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Holland to this entry?)

     They made an edict with an intimation that whosoever killed a stork, should be banished.

4. A hint; an obscure or indirect suggestion or notice; a remote or ambiguous reference
   • 1679, Gilbert Burnet, The History of the Reformation of the Church of England

     Without mentioning the king of England, or giving the least intimation that he was sent by him.

   • 1862, Henry David Thoreau, Walking:

     At length, perchance, the immaterial heaven will appear as much higher to the American mind, and the intimations that star it as much brighter.

• intimacy
• intimate

• “intimation” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).