confuz

Forms

confuz m or n (feminine singular confuză, masculine plural confuzi, feminine/neuter plural confuze)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing: DELR names borrowed from Latin cōnfūsus (“mixed together, confused”) first, then Italian confuso, French confus and German konfus, each of them itself taken from the Latin word.^[2] DEX, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries give French and Latin, Wiktionary the same pair.^[3][4][5][1] Tiktin gives Latin first and then French, and the DA calls it a neologism after French.^[6][7] The Latin word is the past participle of cōnfundō (“to pour together, mix”), from con- and fundō (“to pour”).^[1]

In Romanian it belongs with confunda and confuzie;^[2][8] Graur lists all three among the learned Romanian descendants of the Latin verb.^[2][8] An older variant was spelled with ⟨s⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1787, in Văcărescu's grammar, with the sense “unclear, muddled”.^[2] Tiktin's first record is of 1794, and he quotes Șincai, who gave up describing an embassy's whole journey because the account of it was “very confused”, „foarte confuză”.^[6] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 lists it as an adverb, “in a tangled, mixed way; dazed, astonished”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word applied first to things and thoughts that are mixed together and cannot be told apart: a confused noise, dim memories.^[7][10] Of people, it means muddled or flustered.^[3] Scriban, CADE and the DA also record the French sense “ashamed, abashed”, which the DA labels a Gallicism, and MDA2 gives “ashamed” and “humiliated” as rare senses that follow French.^{[11][12][7][4]}

The adverb, the same form, is old as well: Tiktin quotes Eminescu, „Adaose el puțin confus” “he added, a little confused”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1787 – the first record, in Văcărescu's grammar.^[2]
• 1794 – Tiktin's first record.^[6]
• 1828 – the verb confunda is first recorded.^[2]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary of neologisms, as an adverb.^[9]
• 1853 – the rare verb confuza “to confuse someone”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not clear or distinct; vague, hard to make out: a confused noise, dim memories.^[3][4]
2. Of people and their behaviour: confused, flustered, muddled.^[3][13]
3. (rare) ashamed, humiliated.^[4][7]

Adverb

1. In a confused way, confusedly: a vorbit confuz “he spoke confusedly”.^[7][1]

Related words

• confunda
• confuzie
• difuz

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. confunda
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 221
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 485
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. confuz
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. confuz
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. confuz
8. ^ a b Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 48
9. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. confuz
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 158
11. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 332
12. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. confuz
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. confuz