confide

confide

English

Etymology

From Latin confīdō (“I trust fully, I am assured, confide, rely”), from con- (“together”) + fīdō (“I trust”); see faith, fidelity.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kənˈfaɪd/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪd

Verb

confide (third-person singular simple present confides, present participle confiding, simple past and past participle confided)

1. (intransitive, now rare) To trust, have faith (in).
   • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 269:

     "Be calm, lovely Antonia!" he replied; "no danger in near you: confide in my protection."

   • 1818, [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, OCLC 830979744:

     "I shall do nothing rashly: you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and consideration whenever the safety of others is committed to my care."

   • 1807, Lord Byron, The Prayer of Nature:

     In thy protection I confide.

2. (transitive, dated) To entrust (something) to the responsibility of someone.

   I confide this mission to you alone.

3. (intransitive) To take (someone) into one's confidence, to speak in secret with. ( + in)

   I could no longer keep this secret alone; I decided to confide in my brother.

4. (transitive, intransitive) To say (something) in confidence.

   After several drinks, I confided my problems to the barman.

   She confided that her marriage had been in trouble for some time.

Derived terms

• confide in

Related terms

• confidant
• confidante
• confidence
• confident
• confidential
• overconfident

 

Translations

to trust, have faith in

Bulgarian: вя́рвам (bg) (vjárvam), доверявам (doverjavam) Czech: důvěřovat (cs) impf Dutch: vertrouwen (op) (nl) Finnish: luottaa (fi) French: faire confiance (fr) German: vertrauen (de) Russian: доверя́ться (ru) impf (doverjátʹsja), дове́риться (ru) pf (dovéritʹsja) Spanish: confiar (es) Ukrainian: довіря́ти (dovirjáty)

intransitive: to take (someone) into one's confidence

Arabic: نَاجَى‎ (nājā) Bulgarian: доверявам се (doverjavam se) Chinese: Mandarin: 委托 (zh) Czech: svěřit (cs) pf Dutch: toevertrouwen (nl) Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: uskoutua (fi) French: confier (fr) German: einweihen (de), ins Vertrauen ziehen Latin: concrēdō Russian: доверя́ть (ru) impf (doverjátʹ), дове́рить (ru) pf (dovéritʹ) Ukrainian: поклада́тися (pokladátysja)

to say (something) in confidence

Bulgarian: поверявам (bg) (poverjavam) Dutch: toevertrouwen (nl) Finnish: uskoutua (fi) French: confier (fr) Greek: εκμυστηρεύομαι (el) (ekmystirévomai) Latin: concrēdō Maori: whāki, muna

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: (please verify) konfidi (eo) Icelandic: (please verify) trúa fyrir

Further reading

• confide in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• confide in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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Latin

Verb

cōnfīde

1. second-person singular present active imperative of cōnfīdō