in petto
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of in petto
Literally, “in (the) breast”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His very name had just become known in Rome, having been kept in petto by the dead Pontiff�as are currently the names of three cardinals in the breast of Pope John.
From Time Magazine Archive
With a group of senior cardinals�among them Eugene Tisserant, Alfredo Ottaviani, and Amleto Cicognani, the Vatican's Secretary of State�John talked about identifying the three cardinals in petto whose names he has kept secret since 1960.
From Time Magazine Archive
Many American Catholics hope that Pius XII may have created New York's Archbishop Francis J. Spellman a Cardinal in petto when the American prelate was at the Vatican a month ago.
From Time Magazine Archive
Both, as a matter of fact, may now be Cardinals in petto, i.e., in the Pope's breast.
From Time Magazine Archive
After four hours of fighting, all to his disadvantage, he resolved to act, in petto, on the principle he had put into action when he first seized Arcot.
From Rulers of India: Lord Clive by Malleson, George Bruce
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
