confidential
Meaning
meant to be kept secret and not told to or shared with other people
entrusted with private or secret information
Structure
Usage
all information will be treated as strictly confidential.
she is a confidential secretary to the company president.
he spoke in a low, confidential tone.
Etymology
the word confidential is built upon the latin root for trust, fid-. the prefix con- intensifies the sense of a shared or mutual trust. historically, this combination yielded the latin confidentia, meaning "firm trust, assurance, or reliance". the modern adjective confidential evolved from this core concept of mutual trust to specifically describe matters entrusted to someone's faith or information shared under a bond of secrecy. thus, its meaning shifted from the general state of confidence to the specific quality of being private or secret, guaranteed by trust.
Analysis
- con: a latin prefix meaning "together, with". - fid: from latin fidere (to trust) and fides (faith, trust). - ential: a latin-derived adjective-forming suffix, indicating a quality or state.