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confounder

 - 3 dictionary results

con⋅found

  [kon-found, kuhn-; for 6 usually kon-found]
Use confounder in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to perplex or amaze, esp. by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse: The complicated directions confounded him.
2. to throw into confusion or disorder: The revolution confounded the people.
3. to throw into increased confusion or disorder.
4. to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake: truth confounded with error.
5. to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.
6. to damn (used in mild imprecations): Confound it!
7. to contradict or refute: to confound their arguments.
8. to put to shame; abash.
9. Archaic.
a. to defeat or overthrow.
b. to bring to ruin or naught.
10. Obsolete. to spend uselessly; waste.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME conf(o)unden < AF confoundre < L confundere to mix, equiv. to con- con- + fundere to pour

Related forms:
con⋅found⋅a⋅ble, adjective
con⋅found⋅er, noun
con⋅found⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. dumbfound, daze, nonplus, astound.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To confounder
con·found   (kən-found', kŏn-)   
tr.v.   con·found·ed, con·found·ing, con·founds

  1. To cause to become confused or perplexed. See Synonyms at puzzle.

  2. To fail to distinguish; mix up: confound fiction and fact.

  3. To make (something bad) worse: Do not confound the problem by losing your temper.

  4. To cause to be ashamed; abash: an invention that confounded the skeptics.

  5. To damn.

    1. To frustrate: trivial demands that confounded the peace talks.

    2. Archaic To bring to ruination.


[Middle English confounden, from Anglo-Norman confundre, from Latin cōnfundere, to mix together, confuse : com-, com- + fundere, to pour; see gheu- in Indo-European roots.]
con·found'er n., con·found'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

confound 
c.1290, "discomfit, abash, confuse," from Anglo-Fr. confoundre, from O.Fr. confondre, from L. confundere "to confuse," lit. "to pour together," from com- "together" + fundere "to pour" (see found (2)). The fig. sense of "confuse, fail to distinguish, mix up" emerged in L., passed into O.Fr. and thence into M.E., where it is mostly found in Scripture; the sense of "destroy utterly" is recorded in Eng. from c.1300. The L. pp., meanwhile, became confuse (q.v.). Confounded as an execration is first recorded 1652.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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