confier

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔ̃.fje/^[1]

Forms

confier^[1]

Etymology

It is a reshaping (1357), after fier “to trust”, of the older confider (about 1300 to the late 16th century), borrowed from Latin cōnfīdō (“to trust, have confidence in”),^[2][3][4][5] from con- and fīdō (“to trust”).^[3][6] Wiktionary calls it a semi-learned borrowing.^[1] Bloch and Wartburg think it too recent to continue a first-conjugation Vulgar Latin *cōnfīdāre, as Italian confidare and Spanish confiar do;^[4] the REW lists the French verb with them under that form.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Jean le Bel's Chronique (1357), as se confier “to put one's trust (in someone)”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century it moved away from the Latin sense to “hand over (someone or something) to the care of a person one trusts” (Montchrestien, 1601).^[3][2] Linked with confidence, it came to mean “tell (something) in secret” (Racine's Andromaque, 1667), and se confier “to open one's heart” is found in La Rochefoucauld before 1680.^[2][3] From 1753 (Buffon) it is also used for “commit to the action of something”, as seeds to the earth.^[2][3] The old use se confier en “to trust in” is still common in Amyot's 16th-century translations.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – The older form confider.^[3]
• 1357 – Se confier “to trust”, in Jean le Bel.^[2]
• 1601 – “To entrust”, in Montchrestien.^[2]
• 1667 – “To tell in confidence”, in Racine.^[2]
• Before 1680 – Se confier “to confide”, in La Rochefoucauld.^[2]
• 1753 – “To commit to the action of”, in Buffon.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To entrust (someone or something) to the care of a person one trusts: confier son enfant à un ami, confier une mission à quelqu'un.^[9][10]
2. To confide, tell in confidence: confier ses secrets à un ami.^[9][1]
3. (literary) To commit to the action of something: confier des semences à la terre.^[10][2]
4. Se confier: to confide in someone; formerly also, to put one's trust in.^[2][8]

Word family

• confiant

Related words

• confiance
• confidence
• fier
• fiancé

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 k l 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 f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1034b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse