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/
• 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 1985, p. 269:

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

   • 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus, Everyman's Library 1973, p. 10:

     "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."

   • Byron

     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.

Related terms

Related terms

• confidant
• confidante

• confidence
• confident

• confidential
• overconfident

Translations

to trust, have faith in

• Bulgarian: вя́рвам (bg) (vjárvam), доверявам (doverjavam)
• Dutch: vertrouwen (op) (nl)
• Finnish: luottaa (fi)

• Spanish: confiar (es)
• Ukrainian: довіря́ти (dovirjáty)

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

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: доверявам се (doverjavam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: toevertrouwen (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: uskoutua (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: поклада́тися (pokladátysja)

to say (something) in confidence

• Bulgarian: поверявам (bg) (poverjavam)

• Finnish: uskoutua (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} konfidi

• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} trúa fyrir

Further reading

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

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Latin

Verb

cōnfīde

1. second-person singular present active imperative of cōnfīdō