Etymologically
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confidence

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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
  • 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