核心畫面

Picture a firm feeling of trust — you lean your weight on someone or something and feel sure it will hold. The Latin root con-fidere means 'to trust fully'. From that one feeling of trust, the word branches in two directions: trust pointed OUTWARD (you trust a person, a thing, an outcome) and trust pointed INWARD (you trust yourself). A second, narrower branch comes from trust between two people: things told 'in trust', kept secret.

可以想成一種「放心去倚靠」的感覺:你把重量靠上去,相信它撐得住、不會塌。拉丁字根 con-fidere 就是「完全信更多收起可以想成一種「放心去倚靠」的感覺:你把重量靠上去,相信它撐得住、不會塌。拉丁字根 con-fidere 就是「完全信賴」。從這一份「信賴感」往兩個方向長:一個朝外(信任某個人、某樣東西、某個結果會成),一個朝內(信任自己做得到,也就是自信)。另外還有一條較窄的支線,來自人與人之間的信賴——「託付給你、請你保密」的那些話。

From the word’s history

English confidence comes from Latin confidentia, from confidere 'to have full trust', con- (intensive) + fidere 'to trust' — the same fid- root as in faith, fidelity. The modern core 'a feeling of trust' sits right on that root, and 'self-confidence' is simply that trust turned toward oneself.

英文 confidence 來自拉丁文 confidentia,源於 confidere「完全信賴」:con-(加強語氣)+ fidere「信賴」——和 faith(信仰)、fidelity(忠誠)是同一個 fid-(信)字根。現代的核心義「信賴的感覺」就直接坐在這個字根上,而「自信」不過是把這份信賴轉向自己。

Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), 'confidence' / 'confide'; Latin fidere 'to trust'.

Three branches

信賴(朝外)

把核心的「信賴感」朝外放:相信某個人、某樣東西、或某件事一定會發生、會成。

trust · noun · B2

Trust that a person or a thing is good and can be relied on.

信任、信心

自信(朝內)

把同一份「信賴感」轉向自己:相信自己做得到、應付得來——對象從別人變成你本人。

self-confidence · noun · B2

The feeling that you can do things well and deal with situations.

自信

私下信賴、保密

這一族來自人與人之間的信賴:因為信得過你,才把話只說給你聽、託你保密。於是 confidence 從「信賴感」延伸到「被信賴而託付的私密話」本身。

in confidence · noun · B2

When you tell someone something in confidence, you tell it on the understanding that they will keep it secret.

保密、私下(告訴)

原始詞典資料4 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

confidencenoun/ˈkɒn.fɪ.dəns/

  • 1

    Self-assurance.

    • He entered the ring with confidence.
  • 2

    A feeling of certainty; firm trust or belief; faith.

    • She had confidence it would soon end.
    • 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.
  • 3

    Information held in secret; a piece of information shared but to thence be kept in secret.

    • 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

    datedBoldness; presumption.

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。