diffidence
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin diffīdentiam (“distrust”), from diffīdere (“to mistrust”), from dis- and fīdere (“to trust”). Attested since ∼1400. The original sense was antonymous with confidence, and the modern sense of ‘distrusting oneself’ dates from the 1650s.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈdɪfɪdəns/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
[edit]diffidence (countable and uncountable, plural diffidences)
- The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume I, chapter 15:
- Without scruple—without apology—without much apparent diffidence, Mr. Elton, the lover of Harriet, was professing himself her lover.
- 1857, Brigham Young, Journal of Discources: Attention and Reflection Necessary to An Increase of Knowledge, etc.:
- I have the same diffidence in my feelings that most public speakers have, and am apt to think that others can speak better and more edifying than I can.
- 1897, José María de Pereda, translated by William Henry Bishop, Cleto's Proposal to Sotileza (an excerpt from Sotileza)
- "I was passing by," he began to stammer, trembling with his diffidence, "I—happened to be passing along this way, and so—er—as I was passing this way, I says to myself, says I, 'I'll just stop into the shop a minute.'
- 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
- And Rick with unwonted diffidence had accepted his exclusion. Now with the same diffidence he came, looking trim and loving and mysteriously humble.
- (obsolete) Mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
- [Charles, King of France]: We have been guided by thee hitherto,
And of thy cunning had no diffidence:
One sudden foil shall never breed distrust.
- 1649, J[ohn] Milton, chapter XII, in ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, page 122:
- [...] [H]ee had brought the Parliment into ſo juſt a diffidence of him, as that they durſt not leave the Public Armes to his diſpoſal [...]
- 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.Scene the Last:
- I have no diffidence of your abilities—only be constant to one roguery at a time—
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement
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References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “diffidence”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeydʰ-
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
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- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
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