amaze

English

WOTD – 13 April 2023

Etymology

PIE word
*h₂ew
PIE word
*úd

The verb is derived from Middle English *amasen, *amase (“to bewilder, perplex”) (attested chiefly in the past participle form, and thus often difficult to distinguish from amased (adjective)),[1] from Old English āmasian (“to confuse, astonish”), from ā- (perfective prefix) + *masian (“to confound, confuse, perplex; to amaze”)[2] (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)). The English word is analysable as a- (intensifying prefix) +‎ maze (“(archaic) to astonish, amaze, bewilder; to daze, stupefy”).

The noun is derived from Late Middle English amase, from the verb: see above.[3]

Pronunciation

Verb

amaze (third-person singular simple present amazes, present participle amazing, simple past and past participle amazed)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise. [from 16th c.]
      He was amazed when he found that the girl was a robot.
    2. (obsolete) To stun or stupefy (someone). [Old English–18th c.]
      • 1769, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “From the Beginning of the First Triumvirate to the Death of Pompey”, in The Roman History, from the Foundation of the City of Rome, to the Destruction of the Western Empire. […], volume I, London: […] S. Baker and G. Leigh, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; and L. Davis, […], →OCLC, page 479:
        Inſtead of thinking hovv to remedy this diſorder by rallying ſuch troops as fled, or by oppoſing freſh troops to ſtop the progreſs of the conquerors, being totally amazed by this firſt blovv, he [Pompey] returned to the camp, and in his tent, vvaited the iſſue of an event, vvhich it vvas his duty to direct, not to follovv: […]
    3. (obsolete, also reflexive) To bewilder or perplex (someone or oneself). [16th–17th]
    4. (obsolete, poetic) To fill (someone) with panic; to panic, to terrify. [16th–18th c.]
  2. (intransitive, archaic) To experience amazement; to be astounded. [from 16th c.]

Conjugation

Conjugation of amaze
infinitive (to) amaze
present tense past tense
1st-person singular amaze amazed
2nd-person singular amaze, amazest† amazed, amazedst†
3rd-person singular amazes, amazeth† amazed
plural amaze
subjunctive amaze amazed
imperative amaze —
participles amazing amazed

† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

amaze (countable and uncountable, plural amazes)

  1. (archaic)
    1. (except poetic, uncountable) Amazement, astonishment; (countable) an instance of this. [from 16th c.]
    2. (uncountable) Fear, terror. [from 16th c.]
      Synonym: (obsolete) amazement
      • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “The Family still Resolve to Hold Up Their Heads”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 103:
        [T]he whole rout was in amaze; his Lordſhip turned all manner of colours, my Lady fell into a ſwoon; […]
      • a. 1974 (date written), J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “Quenta Silmarillion: The History of the Silmarils. Chapter XVIII. Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin.”, in Christopher Tolkien, editor, The Silmarillion, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, published 15 September 1977, →ISBN, page 153:
        He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.
  2. (obsolete, uncountable) Stupefaction of the mind; bewilderment; (countable) an instance of this. [15th–19th]
    Synonym: (obsolete) amazement
    • 1610, Gervase Markham, “Of the Diseases in the Head”, in Markhams Maister-peece. Or, What doth a Horse-man Lacke. Containing All Possible Knowledge whatsoeuer which doth Belong to any Smith, Farrier, or Horse-leech, Touching the Curing of All Manner of Diseases or Sorrances in Horses; […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson, […], →OCLC, 1st book (Containing All Cures Physicall, […]), page 57:
      [T]he panicles or thin skins [of a horse] vvhich cleauing to the bones, doe couer the vvhole braine, are ſubiect to headache, mygram [migrane], dizineſſe, and amazes; […]

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “amāsed, ppl.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “amaze, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “amaze, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “amaze, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2023.
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