Confound

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kənˈfaʊnd/

Definitions

1. To confuse someone by mixing up different things or by presenting something that contradicts their expectations
2. To perplex or bewilder by creating uncertainty through contradictory information or unexpected complexity
3. To throw into a state of confusion by mixing elements together or subverting anticipated outcomes

Etymology: Before it meant to baffle or bewilder, "confound" meant to destroy or ruin, and it came into English from Latin "cōnfundō," which meant "to mingle, mix together." The mixing sense is still visible in the word's makeup: "con-" means "together" and "fundere" means "to pour," so the Latin verb was literally pouring things into one another. That pouring image is also the reason the word is related to "fusion" and to the old English word "found," meaning to melt metal in a foundry. The path into English ran through French. Middle English "confounden" was borrowed from Anglo-Norman "cunfundre" and Old French "confondre," and at first it carried the harsher senses of destroying or ruining someone, with the idea of perplexing them as a secondary meaning. The sense of baffling someone, where a mix-up of thoughts leaves them unable to think clearly, grew out of that older force of overturning a person's plans or wits.

Synonyms: bewilder, perplex, baffle, confuse, mystify

Antonyms: clarify, explain, elucidate, illuminate, simplify