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diffidence
Jun. 15th, 2021 07:07 amdiffidence (DIF-i-duhns) - n., the quality of being unassertive, timid, or shy.
Obsolete sense: mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something. This original meaning (dating to c.1400) as an antonym of confidence somehow morphed (around 1650) into specifically lack of confidence in oneself. Origin is Latin diffīdentiam, distrust, from diffīdere, to mistrust, from dis-, not, and fīdere, to trust (as in fidelity).
---L.
Obsolete sense: mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something. This original meaning (dating to c.1400) as an antonym of confidence somehow morphed (around 1650) into specifically lack of confidence in oneself. Origin is Latin diffīdentiam, distrust, from diffīdere, to mistrust, from dis-, not, and fīdere, to trust (as in fidelity).
---L.
