confider

Confider is a noun that designates a person who confides in someone else, i.e., the one who reveals secrets or private information. In modern English, the term is rare and can be considered archaic or dated. Because the standard term for the person who receives confidences is confidant or confidante, confider can be confusing or ambiguous in some contexts. In contemporary usage, many writers would simply rephrase to avoid the potential mix-up, such as “the speaker” or “the person sharing a secret.”

Etymology and relation to other terms: Confider is formed from the verb confide with the agent suffix -er. It is closely related to confidant and confidante, which describe the person who is entrusted with the confidences rather than the one who confides. The word confide itself comes from Latin fidere, to trust, via a French or English development.

Usage notes: Because confide has the object of the confidence, the confider is typically the person who shares information, while the confidant is the listener or recipient of the confidences. In modern writing, confider is seldom used and may be flagged by editors as awkward or outdated. When precision is needed, it is better to choose confidant or confidante for the recipient, or simply describe the action without using confider.

See also: confidant, confidante, confide, confidential. References to the term confider appear mainly in historical texts and some dictionary entries that mark it as rare or obsolete.