confident

Forms

confident m (plural confidents, feminine confidente)^[1] Middle French confedens (about 1450).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian confidente, recorded from the 14th century and in the sense “confidant” before 1348 in Giovanni Villani,^[2][4][5] itself from Latin cōnfīdēns (“confident, trusting”), the present participle of cōnfīdō (“to trust”).^[2][4][6] The Latin verb is formed from con- and fīdō (“to trust”).^[7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the French word developed its senses in its own way.^[4] The GLLF derives the old adjective “trustworthy” directly from the Latin participle.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1450, as confedens, in Monstrelet's Chronique, as an adjective meaning “trusting, confident”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the plural confidens named the men who accompanied knights into the lists (1555–1559, Du Bellay's memoirs, still in Cotgrave in 1611; the GLLF dates it about 1536).^[2][3][8] The modern sense, a person who receives someone's secrets, is first found before 1630 in d'Aubigné.^[2][9] In the 17th century the adjective also meant “trustworthy, faithful”,^[4][3] and classical tragedy gave the name to a secondary character who hears the confidences of the main ones.^[5] An S-shaped seat for two is called a confident from 1864.^[10]

English borrowed it in the 1610s as confident, now spelled confidant.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – Confedens “trusting” appears in Monstrelet.^[2]
• 1555–1559 – The plural confidens is used for a knight's companions in the lists.^[2]
• 1610s – English borrows the word.^[7]
• 1611 – Cotgrave still records the sense “knight's companion”.^[2]
• before 1630 – D'Aubigné uses it for someone told secrets.^[2][9]
• 1864 – Used for an S-shaped seat for two.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A confidant: a person to whom one tells one's secret thoughts.^[5][1]
2. (theatre) In classical drama, a secondary character who receives the main characters' confidences.^[5]
3. An S-shaped armchair in which two people sit facing each other, a tête-à-tête.^[5][1][10]

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Trustworthy, faithful.^[3][4]

Related words

• confidence
• confier
• confiant
• Latin cōnfīdō
• English confidant

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1034a
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF