What does "confound" mean?

Confound: 2. To mistake for another; to identify falsely. They [the tinkers] were generally vagrants and pilferers, and were often confounded with the gypsies. Macaulay.

Additional senses

2.To throw into confusion or disorder; to perplex; to strike with amazement; to dismay. The gods confound... The Athenians both within and out that wall. Shak. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. Ps. xxii.
3.So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood A while as mute, confounded what to say. Milton.
4.To destroy; to ruin; to waste. [Obs.] One man's lust these many lives confounds. Shak. How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour Shak. See Abash.

Sources

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00