different between timidity vs diffidence

English

Etymology

timid +? -ity, from Middle French timidité, from Latin timiditas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??m?d?ti/
• Rhymes: -?d?ti

Noun

timidity (countable and uncountable, plural timidities)

1. shyness

Synonyms

• timidness

Translations

English

Etymology

From Latin diff?dentiam (“distrust”), from diff?dere (“to mistrust”), from dis- and f?dere (“to trust”). Attested since ?1400. The original sense was antonymous with confidence, and the modern sense of ‘distrusting oneself’ dates from the 1650s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?f?d?ns/

Noun

diffidence (countable and uncountable, plural diffidences)

1. The state of being diffident, timid or shy; reticence or self-effacement.
   • 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.'
2. (obsolete) Mistrust, distrust, lack of confidence in someone or something.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI part I, act 3 scene 3

     [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.

Related terms

Translations

References