confidence

English

Alternative forms

• confidency (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English confidence, from Latin cōnfīdentia (possibly via Old French confidence), from cōnfīdō (“believe, confide in”) from con- (“with”) + fīdō (“trust”).

Morphologically confide +‎ -ence.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kŏn'fĭdəns
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒn.fɪ.dəns/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑn.fɪ.dəns/

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

Noun

confidence (countable and uncountable, plural confidences)

1. Self-assurance.
2. A feeling of certainty; firm trust or belief; faith.

   I tell you this in the strictest confidence.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 118:8–9:

     It is better to truſt in the Lord : then to put confidence in man. / It is better to truſt in the Lord : then to put confidence in Princes.

   • 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 39:

     Khedron hesitated for a moment, wondering how far he should take Jeserac into his confidence. He knew that Jeserac was kindly and well-intentioned, but he also knew that he must be bound by the same taboos that controlled everyone on Diaspar.

   • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion‎^[1]:

     But electric vehicles and the batteries that made them run became ensnared in corporate scandals, fraud, and monopolistic corruption that shook the confidence of the nation and inspired automotive upstarts.

3. Information held in secret; a piece of information shared but to thence be kept in secret.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 201:

     In the course of these confidences it became quite plain to me I had been represented to the wife of the high dignitary, and goodness knows to how many more people besides, as an exceptional and gifted creature - a piece of good fortune for the Company - a man you don’t get hold of every day.

4. (dated) Boldness; presumption.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “self-assurance”): timidity, shyness, bashfulness, insecurity

Derived terms

• confidence and supply
• confidence artist
• confidence course
• confidence game
• confidence interval
• confidence level
• confidence limits
• confidence man
• confidence motion
• confidence trick
• confidence trickster
• confidence vote
• e-confidence
• honfidence
• inconfidence
• in confidence
• misconfidence
• motion of confidence
• motion of no confidence
• no-confidence motion
• no-confidence vote
• nonconfidence
• overconfidence
• self-confidence
• superconfidence
• unconfidence
• underconfidence
• vote of confidence
• vote of no confidence

 

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeydʰ- (0 c, 30 e)

Translations

self-assurance

• Arabic: ثِقَة f (ṯiqa)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: упэ́ўненасць f (upéŭnjenascʹ), самаўпэ́ўненасць f (samaŭpéŭnjenascʹ)
• Bulgarian: уве́реност (bg) f (uvérenost), самоуве́реност (bg) f (samouvérenost)
• Catalan: confiança (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 自信 (zi⁶ seon³)

  Mandarin: 信心 (zh) (xìnxīn), 自信 (zh) (zìxìn)

• Czech: sebevědomí (cs) n
• Dutch: zelfvertrouwen (nl)
• Esperanto: memfido
• Finnish: itseluottamus (fi)
• French: assurance (fr), confiance en soi (fr) f
• Galician: confianza f, fiúza f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Selbstgewissheit f (elevated), Selbstvergewisserung f (elevated), Selbstvertrauen (de) n, Zuversicht (de) f
• Greek: αυτοπεποίθηση (el) f (aftopepoíthisi)
• Hebrew: ביטחון (he) m (bitakhón), ^{(please verify)} [script needed] f (emuná)
• Hindi: विश्वास (hi) m (viśvās), आत्मविश्वास (hi) (ātmaviśvās), भरोसा (hi) m (bharosā)
• Hungarian: magabiztosság (hu)
• Irish: urrúsacht f
• Italian: fiducia (it) f, autostima (it) f, certezza (it) f, sicurezza di sé f
• Japanese: 自信 (ja) (じしん, jishin), 確信 (ja) (かくしん, kakushin)
• Khmer: ទំនុកចិត្ត (tumnuk cət), ទំនុកទុកចិត្ត (tumnuktuk cət)
• Korean: 자신(自信) (ko) (jasin), 확신(確信) (ko) (hwaksin)
• Latin: confīdentia f
• Malay: keyakinan (ms)
• Malayalam: ആത്മവിശ്വാസം (ml) (ātmaviśvāsaṁ)
• Maori: māia, māiatanga, ngākau titikaha
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Occitan: fisança (oc) f
• Persian: اعتماد به نفس (fa) (e'temâd be nafs)
• Polish: pewność siebie (pl) f
• Portuguese: convicção (pt) f, confiança (pt) f, segurança (pt) f
• Romanian: siguranță (ro) f, siguranță de sine f
• Russian: уве́ренность (ru) f (uvérennostʹ), самоуве́ренность (ru) f (samouvérennostʹ)
• Spanish: certeza (es) f, certeza propia f, autoconfianza (es) f
• Swedish: självsäkerhet (sv) c
• Tagalog: kumpyansa
• Telugu: నమ్మకము (te) (nammakamu), భరోసా (te) (bharōsā)
• Thai: ความมั่นใจ (th) (kwaam-mân-jai)
• Turkish: kendine itimat, öz güven (tr)
• Ukrainian: впе́вненість (vpévnenistʹ), самовпе́вненість (samovpévnenistʹ)
• Vietnamese: tự tin (vi), sự tự tin (vi), tính tự tin

expression or feeling of certainty

• Bashkir: ышаныс (ışanıs)
• Bulgarian: сигурност (bg) f (sigurnost)
• Catalan: confiança (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 信任 (zh) (xìnrèn), 信賴 / 信赖 (zh) (xìnlài), 確定性 / 确定性 (zh) (quèdìngxìng)

• Czech: jistota (cs) f
• Finnish: luottamus (fi)
• German: Zuversicht (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 f (trauains)
• Greek: βεβαιότητα (el) f (vevaiótita)
• Hindi:, विश्वास (hi) m (viśvās), भरोसा (hi) m (bharosā)
• Hungarian: bizonyosság (hu)
• Italian: fiducia (it) f
• Japanese: 信用 (ja) (しんよう, shin'yō), 信頼 (ja) (しんらい, shinrai), 信任 (ja) (しんにん, shinnin)
• Kazakh: сенімшілік (senımşılık)
• Korean: 신임(信任) (ko) (sinim), 신용(信用) (ko) (sinyong), 신뢰(信賴) (ko) (silloe)
• Latin: fīdūcia f
• Macedonian: доверба f (doverba)
• Maori: māiatanga, ngākau titikaha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tillit (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: tillit m or f

• Occitan: fisança (oc) f
• Portuguese: certeza (pt) f, convicção (pt) f
• Romanian: siguranță (ro) f
• Russian: уве́ренность (ru) f (uvérennostʹ)
• Spanish: certidumbre f
• Swedish: tilltro (sv) c, tillit (sv) c
• Tocharian B: päkwalñe
• Turkish: itimat (tr) (obsolescent), güven (tr)
• Ukrainian: впе́вненість (vpévnenistʹ)
• Vietnamese: sự tự tin

quality of trusting

• Bulgarian: вяра (bg) f (vjara), доверие (bg) n (doverie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 信任 (zh) (xìnrèn), 信賴 / 信赖 (zh) (xìnlài), 確定性 / 确定性 (zh) (quèdìngxìng)

• Czech: důvěra (cs) f
• Danish: fortrolighed c
• Dutch: vertrouwen (nl)
• Finnish: luottamus (fi)
• French: confiance (fr) f
• Galician: confianza f, fiúza f
• German: Vertrauen (de) n, Zutrauen (de) n
• Greek: εμπιστοσύνη (el) f (empistosýni)
• Hindi: विश्वास (hi) m (viśvās)
• Hungarian: bizalom (hu)
• Italian: fiducia (it) f
• Korean: 확실(確實)함 (ko) (hwaksilham), 확실성(確實性) (ko) (hwaksilseong)
• Latin: fīdūcia f
• Maori: whakamanawatanga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tillit (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: tillit m or f

• Portuguese: confiança (pt) f, confidência (pt) f
• Spanish: confidencia (es) f
• Swedish: tilltro (sv) c, tillit (sv) c
• Turkish: itimat (tr) (obsolescent), güven (tr)

information held in secret

• Bulgarian: поверително съобщение (poveritelno sǎobštenie)
• Catalan: confidència f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 心裡話 / 心里话 (zh) (xīnlihuà), 秘密 (zh) (mìmì)

• Czech: důvěrnost f, tajemství (cs) n
• Finnish: luottamuksellinen tieto
• French: confidence (fr) f
• German: Vertraulichkeit (de) f
• Greek: απόρρητο (el) n (apórrito)
• Hungarian: bizalmasság (hu)
• Italian: confidenza (it)
• Japanese: 打ち明け話 (うちあけばなし, uchiakebanashi), 秘密 (ja) (ひみつ, himitsu)
• Korean: 비밀(祕密) (ko) (bimil), 속내 (ko) (songnae)
• Portuguese: confidência (pt) f
• Romanian: confidență (ro) f
• Spanish: confidencia (es) f
• Swedish: förtroende (sv) n
• Turkish: samimiyet (tr), teklifsizlik (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} ביטחון (he) m (bit'akhon) (2, 3)
• Slovene: (1) ^{(please verify)} samozavest f, (3) ^{(please verify)} zaupanje (sl) n

References

• confidence on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnfīdentia. Doublet of confiance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.fi.dɑ̃s/

Noun

confidence f (plural confidences)

1. confidence, secret

Related terms

• confident

Further reading

• “confidence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.