Confidence

Etymology

From Latin "confidere" (to trust fully), from "con-" (intensive) and "fidere" (to trust). The same root gives "fidelity" and "confide," and it is why a con artist earns your "confidence" first — the swindle is named for the trust it exploits.

noun · /KON-fih-dunss/
A settled trust in one’s own abilities, judgment, or in some outcome.
What it names
A calibrated relationship to uncertainty — belief proportioned to evidence — which is why too little cripples and too much deludes.
Example
Her confidence came not from certainty but from having rehearsed the failure modes until none of them could surprise her.
Related idea
Confidence is trust matched to real ability; hubris is trust that has outrun ability, the overreach that invites a fall.
noun · /KON-fih-dunss/
A secret or private matter entrusted to someone, shared in the expectation that it will be kept.
What it names
a piece of information told in trust
Example
She shared a confidence with him over dinner and begged him never to repeat it.
Related idea
Keeping one is a quiet test of friendship — the bond partly consists of what each will not tell.