Meaning
An intimate, private conversation between two people; also an adjective for such encounters and, less commonly, a small sofa built so that two sitters face each other. The register is mildly literary or playfully quaint and signals confidentiality; in French the source expression is an ordinary way of saying 'face to face' without that flavor. Literary and slightly old-fashioned charm that implies secrecy, suiting gossip columns and diplomatic reporting alike. Regional use: General English (borrowed from French).
Origin
French, literally 'head-to-head', from tête 'head' (Old French teste, from Latin testa, a word for an earthenware pot or shell) plus à 'at, to'. English adopted it in the 1690s as a noun for a private meeting of two persons - dictionary.com dates it 1690-1700, and the Online Etymology Dictionary adds an adjectival use from 1728 ('private, confidential') and an adverbial one from 1790. A separate 1756 English use of tête alone named a tall dressed woman's wig. The sofa sense, noted by dictionary.com, developed from the conversation sense.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Usage Examples
- The two ministers held a brief tête-à-tête before the joint statement was drafted.
- We watched them in a long tête-à-tête on the balcony, heads inclined toward each other.
- She invited her mentor round for a Sunday-morning tête-à-tête over coffee.