confusion

confusion

See also: confusión

English

Etymology

From Middle English confusioun, from Old French confusion, from Latin confusio, confusionem.

Morphologically confuse +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈfjuːʒən/
• Rhymes: -uːʒən

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

confusion (usually uncountable, plural confusions)

1. A lack of clarity or order.
2. The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
3. The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.

   The confusion of sexual orientation and gender identity leads to discrimination and stereotyping.

   • 1908, “lay v.¹”, in James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VI, Part 1, London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 128:

     Now (exc. in Nautical language, see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion.

4. Lack of understanding due to dementia.
5. (archaic) A state of shame or embarrassment.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     Lady Bellaston fixed her eyes on Sophia whilst she spoke these words. To which that poor young lady, having her face overspread with blushes and confusion, answered, in a stammering voice […]

Synonyms

• (lack of clarity or order): discombobulation
• (state of being confused): bewilderment, disarray

Antonyms

• (lack of clarity or order): clarity
• (misunderstanding): distinction

Derived terms

• cone of confusion
• minim confusion
• muscle confusion

 

Translations

lack of clarity or order

Arabic: اِلْتِبَاس‎ m (iltibās) Hijazi Arabic: لخبطة‎ f (laḵbaṭa), حوسة‎ f (ḥōsa), خربطة‎ f (ḵarbaṭa) Armenian: շփոթ (hy) (špʿotʿ) Assamese: খেলিমেলি (khelimeli), আউল (aul) Bulgarian: объ́ркване (bg) n (obǎ́rkvane), бъркоти́я (bg) f (bǎrkotíja) Catalan: confusió (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 混亂／混乱 (zh) (hǔnluàn) Czech: zmatek (cs) m Danish: forvirring c, forvirrelse c Dutch: verwarring (nl), war (nl) Esperanto: konfuzo Finnish: sekaannus (fi), epäselvyys (fi), hämmennys (fi) French: confusion (fr) f, désordre (fr) m German: Verwirrung (de) f, Durcheinander (de) n, Konfusion (de) f, Verwechslung (de) f Greek: σύγχυση (el) f (sýnchysi), μπέρδεμα (el) n (bérdema) Ancient: ταραχή f (tarakhḗ), τύρβη f (túrbē) Hebrew: בִּלְבּוּל‎ (he) m (bilbúl) Hindi: गड़बड़ (hi) m or f (gaṛbaṛ) Hungarian: zavar (hu), összevisszaság (hu) Icelandic: ruglingur (is) m, brengl (is) n Italian: confusione (it) f, disordine (it) m Japanese: 混乱 (ja) (こんらん, konran) Khmer: ល្បែ (lbae) Korean: 혼란(混亂) (ko) (hollan) Ladino: embroyo, dubarina, enredijo, mareo, taburra Latin: tumultus m Malay: kekeliruan Maori: matangerengere, kaumingomingo, pōkaikaha Polish: zamieszanie (pl) n, chaos (pl) m Portuguese: confusão (pt) f Romanian: confuzie (ro) f Russian: пу́таница (ru) f (pútanica), неразбери́ха (ru) f (nerazberíxa), беспоря́док (ru) m (besporjádok) Slovak: zmätok m, chaos (sk) m Spanish: confusión (es) Telugu: తడబాటు (te) (taḍabāṭu) Tocharian B: traike

state of being confused; misunderstanding

Arabic: اِرْتِبَاك‎ m (irtibāk) Armenian: շփոթմունք (hy) (špʿotʿmunkʿ), շփոթվածություն (hy) (špʿotʿvacutʿyun), շփոթություն (hy) (špʿotʿutʿyun) Bulgarian: объ́ркване (bg) n (obǎ́rkvane), неяснота́ (bg) f (nejasnotá) Catalan: confusió (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 混淆 (zh) (hùnxiáo, hùnyáo, hǔnxiáo) Danish: forvirring c, forvirrelse c Esperanto: konfuzo Finnish: hämmennys (fi) French: malentendu (fr) m, confusion (fr) f German: Verwirrung (de) f, Missverständnis (de) n Greek: σύγχυση (el) f (sýnchysi), παραζάλη (el) f (parazáli), σάστισμα (el) n (sástisma) Ancient: ταραχή f (tarakhḗ) Icelandic: ruglingur (is) m, brengl (is) n Irish: cíor thuathail f Italian: disorientamento (it) m, sbandamento (it) m Japanese: 混乱 (ja) (こんらん, konran), 混同 (ja) (こんどう, kondō) Korean: 혼란(混亂) (ko) (hollan), 혼동(混同) (ko) (hondong), 착란(錯亂) (ko) (changnan) Malayalam: ആശയക്കുഴപ്പം (āśayakkuḻappaṃ) Maori: raumaharatanga, pōnānātanga, matangerengere Norwegian: Bokmål: forveksling m or f Nynorsk: forveksling f Plautdietsch: Wirwoa m Polish: nieporozumienie (pl) n Portuguese: confusão (pt) f Quechua: musphay, pantay Romanian: confuzie (ro) f Russian: недоразуме́ние (ru) n (nedorazuménije), замеша́тельство (ru) n (zamešátelʹstvo), смяте́ние (ru) n (smjaténije) Slovak: zmätenosť f, nedorozumenie n Swedish: förvirring (sv) c

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

Irish: (please verify) neamhord m, (please verify) srúsram m

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French

Etymology

From Middle French confusion, from Old French confusion, borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem, from verb confundo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.fy.zjɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

Derived terms

• prêter à confusion

Further reading

• “confusion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French confusion.

Noun

confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

Descendants

• French: confusion

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Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem.

Noun

confusion f (oblique plural confusions, nominative singular confusion, nominative plural confusions)

1. spread (act or instance of spreading)

Descendants

• English: confusion
• Middle French: confusion
  • French: confusion