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confound

/kənˈfaʊnd/ verb

Latin root: cōnfundō Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about confound at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly.
    These questions confuse even the experts
  2. Mistake one thing for another.
    you are confusing me with the other candidate

Origin

From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)