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arrière-pensée
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Etymology
Borrowed from French arrière-pensée.
Noun
arrière-pensée (plural arrière-pensées or (proscribed) arrières-pensées)
- A mental reservation or ulterior motive.
- 1884, Henry James, “The Path of Duty”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, 2(15): 240-256:
- He knew that I had guessed his arrière-pensée, but he let me off for the moment, for which I was thankful; either because he was still ashamed of it, or because he supposed I was reserving myself for the catastrophe,—should it occur.
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French
Etymology
Literally, “behind-thought”.
Pronunciation
Noun
arrière-pensée f (plural arrière-pensées)
Further reading
- “arrière-pensée”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from French arrière-pensée.
Pronunciation
Noun
arrière-pensée m or f by sense (invariable)
- arrière-pensée (both senses)
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