different between tangle vs confusion

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?tæ?.??l/
• Rhymes: -æ???l

Etymology 1

From Middle English tanglen, probably of North Germanic origin, compare Swedish taggla (“to disorder”), Old Norse þ?ngull, þang (“tangle; seaweed”), see Etymology 2 below.

Verb

tangle (third-person singular simple present tangles, present participle tangling, simple past and past participle tangled)

1. (intransitive) to become mixed together or intertwined
2. (intransitive) to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight

3. (transitive) to mix together or intertwine
4. (transitive) to catch and hold; to ensnare.
   • 1646, Richard Crashaw, Steps to the Temple

     When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways.

Synonyms

• (to become mixed together or intertwined): dishevel, tousle
• (to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight): argue, conflict, dispute, fight
• (to mix together or intertwine): entangle, knot, mat, snarl
• (to catch and hold): entrap

Antonyms

• (to mix together or intertwine): untangle, unsnarl

Derived terms

• betangle
• entangle

Translations

Noun

tangle (plural tangles)

1. A tangled twisted mass.
2. A complicated or confused state or condition.

3. An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.
4. (mathematics) A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.
5. A form of art which consists of sections filled with repetitive patterns.

Synonyms

• (tangled twisted mass): knot, mess, snarl
• (complicated or confused state or condition): maze, snarl
• (argument, conflict, dispute, or fight): argument, conflict, dispute, fight

Derived terms

• tanglefish (Syngnathus acus)
• tanglesome

Translations

Etymology 2

Of North Germanic origin, such as Danish tang or Swedish tång, from Old Norse þongull, þang. See also Norwegian tongul, Faroese tongul, Icelandic þöngull.

Noun

tangle (countable and uncountable, plural tangles)

2. Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria.
   • 1849, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam, 10:

     Than if with thee the roaring wells / Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; / And hands so often clasped in mine, / Should toss with tangle and with shells.

   • 1917, Kenneth Macleod (editor) "The Road to the Isles", in Songs of the Hebrides:

     You've never smelled the tangle o' the Isles.

3. (in the plural) An instrument consisting essentially of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or bundles of frayed rope, or other similar substances, used to capture starfishes, sea urchins, and other similar creatures living at the bottom of the sea.
4. (Scotland) Any long hanging thing, even a lanky person.

Hyponyms

• kombu

Further reading

• tangle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• tangle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• tangle at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• gelant, langet, netlag

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French confusion, from Latin confusio, confusionem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?fju???n/
• Rhymes: -u???n

Noun

confusion (usually uncountable, plural confusions)

1. A lack of clarity or order.
2. The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
3. The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.
4. Lack of understanding due to dementia.
5. (archaic) A state of shame or embarrassment.

Synonyms

• (lack of clarity or order): discombobulation
• (state of being confused): bewilderment, disarray

Antonyms

• (lack of clarity or order): clarity
• (misunderstanding): distinction

Translations

French

Etymology

From Middle French confusion, from Old French confusion, borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem, from verb confundo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.fy.zj??/

Noun

confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

Derived terms

• prêter à confusion

Further reading

• “confusion” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French confusion.

Noun

confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

Descendants

• French: confusion

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem.

Noun

confusion f (oblique plural confusions, nominative singular confusion, nominative plural confusions)

1. spread (act or instance of spreading)

Descendants

• English: confusion
• Middle French: confusion
  • French: confusion