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confiance

Etymology and origin of the French word confiance

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1408
Borrowed from
Latin confidentia
Ultimate origin
Latin (fīdō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin confidentia
English confidence
French confiance

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔ̃.fjɑ̃s/[1]

Forms

confiance f (plural confiances)[1] Confience is recorded in the 13th century, confiance from the 15th.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnfīdentia (“confidence, assurance; boldness”), from cōnfīdō (“to trust fully”), adapted after Old French fiance (“faith, trust”).[5][2][4][1][6] “Cōnfīdō” is formed on fīdō (“to trust”).[5][3] It is a doublet of confidence, taken from the same Latin word without the adaptation.[1] Littré derived it from confiant.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first dated record, from 1408 in documents of the history of Burgundy, has the sense “faith, trust in something or someone”.[5]

Semantic evolution

Cotgrave (1611) records the sense “assurance, boldness”, confidence in oneself.[5][3] In classical French confiance could also mean a secret told in confidence (Retz, about 1665, Madame de Sévigné), a sense since taken by confidence.[3] Homme de confiance, place de confiance and de confiance “without misgiving” are in Littré, and magasin de confiance, a shop's claim to reliability, is found in 1808.[7][8] In politics the government asks Parliament for its confiance, and question de confiance and vote de confiance belong to parliamentary language.[4][9]

Timeline

  • 13th century – Confience.[2]
  • 1408 – Confiance “trust”.[5]
  • 1611 – “Assurance, boldness”, Cotgrave.[5]
  • c. 1665 – “A confidence, secret”, Retz.[3]
  • 1808 – Magasin de confiance.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. trust: avoir confiance en quelqu'un, faire confiance à, inspirer confiance.[4][1]
  2. confidence, self-assurance: confiance en soi, avec confiance.[1][9]
  3. De confiance: trusted, reliable: un homme de confiance, abus de confiance, breach of trust.[7][1]
  4. Public confidence in a government or in the economy, (politics) vote de confiance, vote of confidence.[9][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1033b
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Confiance.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/confiance. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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