tête-à-tête

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tête-à-tête /ˌtɛtaˈtɛt, ˌteɪtɑːˈteɪt/

▶noun (pl. same or tête-à-têtes pronunc. same)

• 1 a private conversation between two people.

• 2 an S-shaped sofa on which two people can sit face to face.

▶adjective & adverb involving or happening privately between two people.

– origin C17: Fr., lit. ‘head-to-head’.