Etymology

From Middle ScotsCategory:English terms borrowed from Middle Scots#CONFIDECategory:English terms derived from Middle Scots#CONFIDE confide, confyde (“to put trust in”), from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#CONFIDE confīdere (“to put trust in, have confidence in”),^[1] from con- (“together”) + fidēre (“to trust”). First attested in English use in the early 17th century.^[1][2] Doublet of faith and fidelityCategory:English doublets#CONFIDE.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈfaɪd/Category:English 2-syllable words#CONFIDECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#CONFIDE

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#CONFIDE
• Rhymes: -aɪdCategory:Rhymes:English/aɪd#CONFIDECategory:Rhymes:English/aɪd/2 syllables#CONFIDE

Verb

confide (third-person singular simple present confides, present participle confiding, simple past and past participle confided)Category:English lemmas#CONFIDECategory:English verbs#CONFIDECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CONFIDECategory:Pages with entries#CONFIDECategory:Pages with 2 entries#CONFIDE

1. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#CONFIDE, now rareCategory:English terms with rare senses#CONFIDE) 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."

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONFIDE

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
   • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 16:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONFIDE

   • 1807, Lord Byron, The Prayer of Nature:

     In thy protection I confide.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONFIDE

2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#CONFIDE, datedCategory:English dated terms#CONFIDE) To entrust (something) to the responsibility of someone.

   I confide this mission to you alone.Category:English terms with usage examples#CONFIDE

3. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#CONFIDE, with in) To take (someone) into one's confidence, to speak in secret with.

   I could no longer keep this secret alone; I decided to confide in my brother.Category:English terms with usage examples#CONFIDE

4. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#CONFIDE, intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#CONFIDE) To say (something) in confidence.

   After several drinks, I confided my problems to the barman.Category:English terms with usage examples#CONFIDE

   She confided that her marriage had been in trouble for some time.Category:English terms with usage examples#CONFIDE

   • 1977 December 10, Mark N. Silber, “Gays On Campus — One Story”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 23, page 15:

     One student had been so afraid to come out to our meetings that he would secretly meet me in the bookshelves of the library and confide about the miseries of being gay, closeted, and a virgin.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONFIDE

References

Further reading

• “confide”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “confide”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Verb

cōnfīdeCategory:Latin non-lemma forms#CONFIDECategory:Latin verb forms#CONFIDECategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#CONFIDECategory:Pages with entries#CONFIDECategory:Pages with 2 entries#CONFIDE

1. second-person singular present active imperative of cōnfīdō