confidence

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkɒn.fɪ.dəns/, US /ˈkɑːn.fə.dəns/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English confidence,^[2] borrowed from Middle French confidence^[2][3] or directly borrowed from Latin cōnfidentia (“firm trust”),^[3][4][5] from cōnfidēns “firmly trusting, bold”, the present participle of cōnfīdere (“to have full trust or reliance”),^[3][5] from con-, here perhaps an intensive prefix, and fīdere (“to trust”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *bheidh- (“to trust, confide, persuade”).^[3] It is related to confide, confident and fidelity.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Assurance or belief in the goodwill or truthfulness of another”: about 1400 in Etymonline,^[3] about 1430 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

“Reliance on one's own powers or resources, self-assurance” is from the mid-15th century,^[3] 1526 in the OED,^[6] and its bad sense, assurance on insufficient grounds, overboldness, from 1594.^[6] “Certainty about a fact” is from the 1550s.^[3][6] The confiding of private matters, a relation of trust, is from 1592,^[6] and a secret, a private communication, from the 1590s.^[3] The link with swindling dates from the mid-19th century, from the false trustworthiness that is the key to the trick:^[3] the adjective, as in confidence man and confidence game, is from 1849,^[7] and a verb “to swindle by a confidence trick” is from 1875.^[6] From it came the clipping con.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – trust in another.^[3]
• 1526 – self-assurance.^[6]
• 1550s – certainty.^[3][6]
• 1590s – a secret.^[3]
• 1849 – adjective, of a swindle.^[7]
• 1875 – verb, to swindle.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Trust or faith in a person or thing.
2. A trusting relationship: took her into his confidence.
3. Something told in trust; a secret.
4. A feeling of assurance, especially self-assurance.
5. The state of being certain: confidence in the result.

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a swindle: a confidence trick.

Word family

• nonconfidence
• superconfidence
• self-confidence
• confidence interval
• confidence game
• confidence limits
• confidence man

Related words

• confide
• confident
• confidential
• fidelity
• faith
• con
• diffidence

Usage notes

The American Heritage distinguishes confidence, a firm belief in one's powers and judgement, from assurance, aplomb, self-confidence, self-possession and trust.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin