confusion
See also: confusión
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English confusioun, from Old French confusion, from Latin confusio, confusionem.
Morphologically confuse + -ion.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
confusion (usually uncountable, plural confusions)
- A lack of clarity or order.
- The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
- The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.
- The confusion of sexual orientation and gender identity leads to discrimination and stereotyping.
- 1908, “lay v.¹”, in James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VI, Part 1, London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 128:
- Now (exc. in Nautical language, see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion.
- Lack of understanding due to dementia.
- (archaic) A state of shame or embarrassment.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
- Lady Bellaston fixed her eyes on Sophia whilst she spoke these words. To which that poor young lady, having her face overspread with blushes and confusion, answered, in a stammering voice […]
SynonymsEdit
- (lack of clarity or order): discombobulation
- (state of being confused): bewilderment, disarray
AntonymsEdit
- (lack of clarity or order): clarity
- (misunderstanding): distinction
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
lack of clarity or order
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state of being confused; misunderstanding
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Inherited from Middle French confusion, from Old French confusion, borrowed from Latin cōnfusiōnem, from verb confundo.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
confusion f (plural confusions)
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “confusion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French confusion.
NounEdit
confusion f (plural confusions)
DescendantsEdit
- French: confusion
Old FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem.
NounEdit
confusion f (oblique plural confusions, nominative singular confusion, nominative plural confusions)
- spread (act or instance of spreading)