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In this following context, which meaning of the verb 'confound' should be taken?:

  1. cause surprise or confusion in (someone), or
  2. mix up (something) with something else

Does the following proposition 'with' make the verb different as a meaning?

Context:

One must here never confound the actual cause — the preceding state out of which the later state arises — with the influences and conditions from without.

Source: P. 13 Fundamentals of Buddhism (Four Lectures) by Nyanatiloka Mahåthera

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    The clue is 'with', which points to your meaning (2). Confound something with something else. It's old fashioned, and most people today would use probably 'confuse' instead. The writer was the German Anton Walther Florus Gueth (1878-1957).
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jun 27, 2023 at 10:19
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    How would you cause surprise or confusion in this context? What would be put in a state of confusion? An abstract state can't be surprised or confused. Clearly it is sense 2.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jun 27, 2023 at 11:10
  • That sentence states you shouldn't eqate the actual cause, with the influences and conditions from without... they are not always the same, and cannot be used interchangably...
    – Michael Mortensen
    Commented Jun 27, 2023 at 12:20

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I think this is just another example of "Indian English" from OP's source. A couple of centuries ago, confound was often used with the sense today covered by confuse (be unable to correctly distinguish one thing from another)...

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Most literate mainstream Anglophones will understand the outdated "Victorian" usage, but an awful lot of people won't1. As I've advised regarding previous questions about this text - by all means read it if you find the subject matter interesting, but don't think of it as a suitable way to learn current mainstream English.

1 I expect quite a few Americans in particular might only know the past participle confounded used as a "euphemistic intensifier" ("sanitized" alternative to AmE dammed, BrE bloody)...

confounded (Encyclopedia.com)
adjective, informal, dated
used for emphasis, esp. to express anger or annoyance.
He was a confounded nuisance

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    The fixed phrase 'confusion further confounded' has survived into modern times and I would hope be fairly familiar to 'literate mainstream Anglophones'
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jun 27, 2023 at 15:17
  • @MichaelHarvey: I continue to be mystified by the number of times people upvote comments suggesting that learners should be taught outdated usages simply because most literate mainstream Anglophones will understand them. I don't accept that the sequence confusion further confounded is some kind of "fixed phrase" useful to current learners. I would never use "confound" like this myself - and if I heard / saw someone else say / write it, I would consider them illiterate, not literate. Why would learners want to risk making that kind of mistake?
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jun 27, 2023 at 17:15

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