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confido

Etymology and origin of the Latin word confido

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (fīdō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kõːˈfiː.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koɱˈfiː.do][1]

Forms

cōnfīdō (present infinitive cōnfīdere, perfect active cōnfīsus sum); third conjugation, semi-deponent[1]

Etymology

It is from con- and fīdō “to trust”, the prefix perhaps intensive.[2][1][3] Fīdō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- (“to trust”).[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL says it is first found in Plautus, and the OLD's first citations are from him.[4][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to put one's trust in, have confidence in, as Caesar's trust in his cavalry, with sibi cōnfīdere “to be self-confident”, and to trust confidently, be sure that something is so.[2][6] Lewis and Short describe it as a stronger form of spērō “to hope”, frequent in Classical prose and poetry; the TLL notes it is rare in poetry outside drama.[7][4] It is semi-deponent, with the perfect cōnfīsus sum.[1][7] Döderlein says cōnfīdere is to trust firmly in strength or help, while crēdō is to believe in another's good intentions.[8]

It survives in Italian confidare, French confier and Spanish confiar.[1] English confide was borrowed in the mid-15th century, and English confidence and English confident come from its participle cōnfīdēns.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[4][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of trusting his cavalry.[6][5]
  • c. 1400 – English confidence is recorded.[3]
  • mid-15th century – English confide is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To trust in, have confidence in, sibi cōnfīdere, to be self-confident.[2]
  2. To be sure, trust confidently (that).[2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Confido.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/confido. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·