confuse (v.)

c. 1300, "to condemn, curse," also "to destroy utterly;" from Anglo-French confoundre, Old French confondre (12c.) "crush, ruin, disgrace, throw into disorder," from Latin confundere "to confuse, jumble together, bring into disorder," especially of the mind or senses, "disconcert, perplex," properly "to pour, mingle, or mix together," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour").

From mid-14c. as "to put to shame, disgrace." The figurative sense of "confuse the mind, perplex" emerged in Latin, passed into French and thence to English by late 14c. The Latin past participle confusus, meanwhile, became confused (q.v.). The meaning "treat or regard erroneously as identical" is from 1580s.

early 14c., "discomfited, routed, defeated" (of groups), serving at first as an alternative past participle of confound, as Latin confusus was the past participle of confundere "to pour together, mix, mingle; to join together;" hence, figuratively, "to throw into disorder; to trouble, disturb, upset."

The Latin past participle also was used as an adjective, with reference to mental states, "troubled, embarrassed," and this passed into Old French as confus "dejected, downcast, undone, defeated, discomfited in mind or feeling," which passed to Middle English as confus (14c.; for example Chaucer's "I am so confus, that I may not seye"), which then was assimilated to the English past-participle pattern by addition of -ed. By mid-16c., the word evolved a back-formed verb in confuse. Few English etymologies are more confusing.

Of individuals, "discomfited in mind, perplexed," from mid-14c.; in logic, "indistinct, indistinguishable from other ideas from which it ought to be different," 1610s. Meaning "lacking orderly arrangement of parts" is from 1776. Related: Confusedly.

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to pour, pour a libation."

It forms all or part of: alchemy; chyle; chyme; confound; confuse; diffuse; diffusion; effuse; effusion; effusive; fondant; fondue; font (n.2) "complete set of characters of a particular face and size of type;" found (v.2) "to cast metal;" foundry; funnel; fuse (v.) "to melt, make liquid by heat;" fusible; fusion; futile; futility; geyser; gush; gust (n.) "sudden squall of wind;" gut; infuse; ingot; parenchyma; perfuse; perfusion; profuse; refund; refuse (v.) "reject, disregard, avoid;" refuse (n.) "waste material, trash;" suffuse; suffusion; transfuse; transfusion.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Greek khein "to pour," khoane "funnel," khymos "juice;" Latin fundere (past participle fusus) "melt, cast, pour out;" Gothic giutan, Old English geotan "to pour;" Old English guttas (plural) "bowels, entrails;" Old Norse geysa "to gush;" German Gosse "gutter, drain."