Etymograph

English

confound

Confound comes from Middle English confounden ‘destroy, ruin, perplex’, from Latin cōnfundō ‘to mingle, mix together’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-1‘to pour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰunédti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hundō1‘to pour out’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundō1‘pour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfundō2‘to mingle, mix together’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400cunfundre2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500confounden2‘destroy, ruin, perplex’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611confound2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin confundo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English confound
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, Coryat, Crudities: “There the freſh and ſalt water would meete and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-Wiktionary, Latin confundo‘to pour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰunédtiWiktionary, Latin confundoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hundōWiktionary, Latin confundo‘to pour out’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundōWiktionary, Latin confundo‘pour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfundōWiktionary, English confound‘to mingle, mix together’
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400cunfundreWiktionary, English confound
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500confoundenWiktionary, English confound‘destroy, ruin, perplex’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611confoundWiktionary, English confound. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, Coryat, Crudities: “There the freſh and ſalt water would meete and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’

yet, refuse, gut, fuse, font, effusive, 39 more

through Proto-Italic *hundō ‘to pour out’

confused, diffusion, infusion, foundry, perfusion, profusion, effusion, fondue, 35 more

through Latin fundō ‘pour’

foundation, fundamental, fusion, founder, refund, diffuse, funnel, confuse, infuse, 46 more

through Latin cōnfundō ‘to mingle, mix together’

confusion

Today it means

verb To perplex or puzzle.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “confound”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin confundo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- / confound

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