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Origin and history of confound

confound(v.)

c. 1300, "to condemn, curse," also "to destroy utterly;" from Anglo-French confoundre, Old French confondre (12c.) "crush, ruin, disgrace, throw into disorder," from Latin confundere "to confuse, jumble together, bring into disorder," especially of the mind or senses, "disconcert, perplex," properly "to pour, mingle, or mix together," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour").

From mid-14c. as "to put to shame, disgrace." The figurative sense of "confuse the mind, perplex" emerged in Latin, passed into French and thence to English by late 14c. The Latin past participle confusus, meanwhile, became confused (q.v.). The meaning "treat or regard erroneously as identical" is from 1580s.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to confound

confused(adj.)

early 14c., "discomfited, routed, defeated" (of groups), serving at first as an alternative past participle of confound, as Latin confusus was the past participle of confundere "to pour together, mix, mingle; to join together;" hence, figuratively, "to throw into disorder; to trouble, disturb, upset."

The Latin past participle also was used as an adjective, with reference to mental states, "troubled, embarrassed," and this passed into Old French as confus "dejected, downcast, undone, defeated, discomfited in mind or feeling," which passed to Middle English as confus (14c.; for example Chaucer's "I am so confus, that I may not seye"), which then was assimilated to the English past-participle pattern by addition of -ed. By mid-16c., the word evolved a back-formed verb in confuse. Few English etymologies are more confusing. 

Of individuals, "discomfited in mind, perplexed," from mid-14c.; in logic, "indistinct, indistinguishable from other ideas from which it ought to be different," 1610s. Meaning "lacking orderly arrangement of parts" is from 1776. Related: Confusedly.

concern(v.)

early 15c., of persons, "to perceive, distinguish;" also, of things, "to refer to, relate to, pertain to," from Old French concerner (15c.) and directly from Medieval Latin concernere "concern, touch, belong to," figurative use of Late Latin concernere "to sift, mix as in a sieve," from assimilated form of Latin com "with, together" (see con-) + cernere "to sift," hence "perceive, comprehend" (from PIE root *krei- "to sieve," thus "discriminate, distinguish").

Apparently the sense of the first element shifted to intensive in Medieval Latin. From late 15c. as "to affect the interest of, be of importance to;" hence the meaning "to worry, disturb, make uneasy or anxious" (17c.). Reflexive use "busy, occupy, engage" ("concern oneself") is from 1630s. Related: Concerned; concerning.

Used imperatively from 1803 (compare similar use of confound); often rendered in dialect as consarn (1832), probably a euphemism for damn (compare concerned). Letter opening to whom it may concern attested by 1740.

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confuse
1550s in a literal sense "mix or mingle things or ideas so as to render the elements indistinguishable;" from mid-18c. in the active, figurative sense of "perplex the mind or ideas of, discomfit in mind or feeling," but not in general use until after c. 1800. From 1862 as "errone
confusion
c. 1300, confusioun, "overthrow, ruin," from Old French confusion "disorder, confusion, shame" (11c.) and directly from Latin confusionem (nominative confusio) "a mingling, mixing, blending; confusion, disorder," noun of action from past-participle stem of confundere "to pour tog
throw
"to project, propel," c. 1300, from Old English þrawan "to twist, turn, writhe, curl," (past tense þreow, past participle þrawen), from Proto-Germanic *threw- (source also of Old Saxon thraian, Middle Dutch dræyen, Dutch draaien, Old High German draen, German drehen "to turn, twi
confusticate
"confound, confuse," 1852, a fantastical mock-Latin American English coinage from confound or confuse, originally in "Negro...
floor
Sense of "puzzle, confound" is from 1830, a figurative use, from earlier sense of "knock down to the floor" (1640s)....
maze
confusion of thought," possibly from Old English *mæs, which is suggested by the compound amasod "amazed" and verb amasian "to confound...
boggle
meaning " hesitate, stop as if afraid to proceed in fear of unforeseen difficulties" is from 1630s; the transitive sense of "confound...
gravel
"stone in small, irregular fragments," early 13c., from Old French gravele "sand, gravel; sea-shore; sandy bed of a river," diminutive of grave "sand, seashore" (Modern French grève), possibly from Celtic *graw- (compare Welsh gro "coarse gravel," Breton grouan, Cornish grow "gra
peso
"Spanish coin, the Spanish dollar," also a coin in various Spanish-American nations,  1550s, from Spanish peso, literally "a weight," from Medieval Latin pensum, properly past participle of Latin pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh; pay" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw,
pose
late 14c., posen, "suggest (something is so), suppose, assume; grant, concede," from Old French poser "put, place, propose," a term in debating, from Late Latin pausare "to halt, rest, cease, pause" (source also of Italian posare, Spanish posar; see pause (v.)). The Late Latin ve

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