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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary con·found ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Anglo-French confundre,from Latin confundere to pour together, confuse, from com- + fundere to pour — more at found DATE 14th century 1. a. archaic : to bring to ruin : destroy b. baffle , frustrate conferences…are not for accomplishment but to confoundknavish tricks — J. K. Galbraith 2. obsolete : consume , waste 3. a. to put to shame : discomfit a performance that confounded the critics b. refute sought to confound his arguments 4. damn 5. to throw (a person) into confusion or perplexity 6. a. to fail to discern differences between : mix up b. to increase the confusion of Synonyms: see puzzle English Etymology confound late 13c., "discomfit, abash, confuse," from Anglo-Fr.confoundre, from O.Fr . confondre (12c.), from L. confundere "to confuse," lit. "to pour together, mix, mingle," from com- "together" + fundere "to pour" (see found (2)). The figurative sense of "confuse, fail to distinguish, mix up" emerged in Latin, passed into French and thence into M.E., where it is mostly found in Scripture; the sense of "destroy utterly" is recorded in English from c.1300. The L. pp. confusus, meanwhile, became confused (q.v.).http://O.Fr Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 confound con·found / kEn5faund / verb[VN] (formal) 1. to confuse and surprise sb 使困惑惊讶；使惊疑 SYN baffle :
The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。 2. to prove sb / sth wrong 证明…有错: to confound expectations 证明期望有误 She confounded her critics and proved she could do the job. 她驳倒了批评者的看法,证明自己能够胜任那项工作。 3. (old-fashioned) to defeat an enemy 击败,战胜(敌人) IDIOMS ▪ con'found it / you! (old-fashioned) used to show that you are angry about sth / with sb (表示愤怒)真讨厌,去你的 Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Edition v. Function: verb 1 Synonyms: PUZZLE , befog, bewilder, ||cap, confuse, metagrobolize, perplex, pose, stumble Idioms: take aback 2 Synonyms: MISTAKE 1, confuse, misdeem, misidentify, mix, mix up Antonyms: discriminate, distinguish 3 Synonyms: EMBARRASS , abash, confuse, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, faze, rattle 4 Synonyms: DISPROVE 1, break, confute, controvert, disconfirm, evert, rebut, refuteWebster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged con·found \in senses other than 4 kənˈfau̇nd also (ˈ)kän|f-; in sense 4 (ˈ)kän|f- sometimes kənˈf-\ transitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: Middle English confounden, from Old French confondre, from Latin confundere to pour together, confuse, from com- + fundere to pour — more at found 1. archaic : to bring to ruin : destroy a. : to inflict defeat on (as an army or adversary) b. : to cause to fail : baffle < confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks — Henry Carey > 2. a. : spoil , corrupt < their native speech was not confounded with a vulgarized spoken Latin — M.W.Baldwin > b. obsolete : consume , waste < he did confound the best part of an hour in changing hardiment with great Glendower — Shakespeare > 3. a. : to put to shame : discomfit , abash < the influence of … El Greco … lay dormant for centuries and rose to confound the critics of later times — Bernard Smith > b. : to refute especially by argument or demonstration : overthrow < this new arm of science may corroborate or confound the theories of the universe — David England > 4. : to send to perdition : damn — used as a mild imprecation < confound it > 5. : to throw (a person) into confusion : strike with amazement : stupefy , perplex , confuse < attacks which confounded opponents with bewildering reverses [of direction] — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union > 6. : to ignore, overlook, or fail to discern a difference between (two or more things) : mistake (one thing) for another : confuse , mingle < they implored Charles not to confound the innocent with the guilty — T.B.Macaulay > 7. : to cause or to increase disorder in (an existing situation) < ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, confusion worse confounded — John Milton > < to divide Europe as the politicians have done is to invite confusion and to divide the frontier as the Europeans did is to confound the confusion — W.P.Webb > Synonyms: see puzzle |
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