Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Confidence in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels confidence as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Confidence

[L. confidentia firm trust in, self-confidence: cf. F. confidence.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordconfidence
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[L. confidentia firm trust in, self-confidence: cf. F. confidence.]
Selected historical definitionThe act of confiding, trusting, or putting faith in; trust; reliance; belief; -- formerly followed by of, now commonly by in.
Signed record IDwebster1913-confidence-noun-dfbcbb53ef28
Source locatorCIDE.C, paragraph 14343; Gutenberg eBook 661
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 661Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "confidence" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[L. confidentia firm trust in, self-confidence: cf. F. confidence.]" The selected historical definition says: "The act of confiding, trusting, or putting faith in; trust; reliance; belief; -- formerly followed by of, now commonly by in."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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