confound

/kɒnˈfaʊnd/kon-FOWND

/kɑnˈfaʊnd/kahn-FOWND

Meaningpour together or mix up

Common meaning: perplex or frustrate

conwith, together; thoroughlySkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 106 · scan
foundto pour out; to melt and castLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 792 · scan

‘with, together’ + ‘to pour out’ → confound

Journey through time

con — Latin com- “with, together; thoroughly” (path traced)
found — Latin fundō, fūdī, fūsum “to pour out; to melt and cast” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as confundere.

Latincom- + fundere‘with, together; thoroughly + to pour out; to melt and cast’source
Latinconfundere‘pour together or mix up’source
Frenchconfondre‘mix up’source
Middle Englishconjoundensource
Englishmeaning shiftsmix up → perplex or frustrateconfound‘perplex or frustrate’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin confundere, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as com- ‘with, together; thoroughly’ + fundere ‘to pour out; to melt and cast’.

Roots

confundere Latin “pour together or mix up”
fundō, fūdī, fūsum Latin “to pour out; to melt and cast”

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