Etymograph

English

confuse

Confuse comes from Latin cōnfūsus ‘mixed, mingled, having been poured together’, from fundo ‘to pour’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd-.

  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 CEfundo2‘to pour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfundere2‘to pour together’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfūsus3‘mixed, mingled, having been poured together’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400confus3
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500confused3‘frustrated, ruined’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2018confuse3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin fundo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin confusus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English confuse
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Engen Tham, Data dump: China sees surge in personal information up for s: “What confuses me is how other insurance companies knew…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰewd-Wiktionary, Latin fundo‘to pour’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰunédtiWiktionary, Latin fundoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hundōWiktionary, Latin fundo‘to pour out’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfundoWiktionary, Latin confusus‘to pour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfundereWiktionary, Latin confusus‘to pour together’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfūsusWiktionary, English confuse‘mixed, mingled, having been poured together’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400confusWiktionary, English confuse
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500confusedWiktionary, English confuse‘frustrated, ruined’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 2018confuseWiktionary, English confuse. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Engen Tham, Data dump: China sees surge in personal information up for s: “What confuses me is how other insurance companies knew…”

Linked words

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

yet, gut, refuse, font, effusive, 42 more

through Proto-Italic *hundō ‘to pour out’

foundry, diffusion, infusion, fondue, perfusion, profusion, effusion, 37 more

through Latin fundo ‘to pour’

foundation, founder, fundamental, refund, fusion, funnel, diffuse, confound, infuse, 47 more

Today it means

verb To puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “confuse”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin fundo, Latin confusus. 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- / confuse

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