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Confound
Definitions
- 1 A confounding variable.
"The participants certainly differ in how their practice is distributed (1, 2, or 3 days), but they also differ in how much total practice they get (3, 6, or 9 hours). This is a perfect example of a confound—it is impossible to tell if the results are due to one factor (distribution of practice) or the other (total practice hours); the two factors covary perfectly."
- 1 To perplex or puzzle.
"And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words."
- 2 mistake one thing for another wordnet
- 3 To stun or amaze.
- 4 be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly wordnet
- 5 To fail to see the difference; to mix up; to confuse right and wrong.
"1651 (Latin edition 1642), Thomas Hobbes, De Cive (Latin title) Philosophicall Rudiments Concerning Government and Society (English), Hey who lesse seriously consider the force of words, doe sometimes confound Law with Counsell, sometimes with Covenant, sometimes with Right. They confound Law with Counsell, who think, that it is the duty of Monarchs not onely to give ear to their Counsellours, but also to obey them, as though it were in vaine to take Counsell, unlesse it were also followed."
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- 6 To make something worse. proscribed, sometimes
"Don't confound the situation by yelling."
- 7 To combine in a confused fashion; to mingle so as to make the parts indistinguishable.
"There the freſh and ſalt water would meete and be confounded together, […]"
- 8 To cause to be ashamed; to abash.
"His actions confounded the skeptics."
- 9 To defeat, to frustrate, to thwart.
"But God hath choſen the fooliſh things of the woꝛld, to confound the wiſe: and God hath choſen the weake things of the woꝛld, to confound the things which are mighty:"
- 10 To damn (a mild oath). dated
"Confound you!"
- 11 To destroy, ruin, or devastate; to bring to ruination. archaic
"To mortal men, he with his horrid crew / Lay vanquiſht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe / Confounded though immortal: But his doom[…]"
Etymology
From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.
From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.
See also for "confound"
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