confabulation

C2 Topic:Health & Medicine

US /kənˌfæbjəˈleɪʃən/ UK /kənˌfæbjʊˈleɪʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #147383

Meanings

1

noun
A false memory that someone genuinely believes is true, often caused by brain illness.

His confabulations were a symptom of his worsening dementia.
2

noun
A casual, friendly conversation.

Their quiet confabulation lasted well into the evening.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a casual, friendly... confab chat

Word family

Derived forms confab

Related forms confabularconfabulateconfabulativeconfabulatorconfabulatoryconfabulistfablefabularfabulism fabulistfabulisticfabulousness

Etymology

From Middle English confabulacion (“conversation”), from Latin confābulātiōnem, from cōnfābulārī + -tiōnem.

*bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European confabulacion Middle English confābulātiōnem Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Health & Medicine Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# confabulation

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kənˌfæbjəˈleɪʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /kənˌfæbjʊˈleɪʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 147383

## Meanings
1. A false memory that someone genuinely believes is true, often caused by brain illness.
2. A casual, friendly conversation.

## Examples
- His confabulations were a symptom of his worsening dementia.
- Their quiet confabulation lasted well into the evening.

## Derived Forms
- confab

## Related Forms
- confabular
- confabulate
- confabulative
- confabulator
- confabulatory
- confabulist
- fable
- fabular
- fabulism
- fabulist
- fabulistic
- fabulousness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰeh₂-
- Root: confabulacion
- Root: confābulātiōnem

## Etymology
From Middle English confabulacion (“conversation”), from Latin confābulātiōnem, from cōnfābulārī + -tiōnem.

## AI Etymology
Confabulation is from Middle English confabulacion (“conversation”), from Latin confābulātiōnem, from cōnfābulārī + -tiōnem. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include *bʰeh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), confabulacion (Middle English), and confābulātiōnem (Latin). Current senses include a false memory that someone genuinely believes is true, often caused by brain illness and a casual, friendly conversation. The wider family includes derived forms such as confab; related words such as confabular, confabulate, confabulative, and confabulator.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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