Refine this word faster
Amuse
Definitions
- 1 To entertain or occupy (someone or something) in a pleasant manner; to stir (someone) with pleasing emotions. transitive
"I watch these movies because they amuse me."
- 2 make (somebody) laugh wordnet
- 3 To cause laughter or amusement; to be funny. transitive
"His jokes rarely fail to amuse me."
- 4 occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion wordnet
- 5 To keep in expectation; to beguile; to delude. archaic, transitive
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder. archaic, transitive
"Being amused with grief, fear, and fright, he could not find the house."
Etymology
From Late Middle English *amusen (“to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on”), from Old French amuser (“to stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought”), from a- + muser (“to stare stupidly at, gape, wander, waste time, loiter, think carefully about, attend to”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Cognate with Occitan musa (“idle waiting”), Italian musare (“to gape idly about”). Possibly from Old French *mus (“snout”) from Vulgar Latin *mūsa (“snout”) — compare Medieval Latin mūsum (“muzzle, snout”) –, from Proto-Germanic *mū- (“muzzle, snout”), from Proto-Indo-European *mū- (“lips, muzzle”). Compare North Frisian müs, mös (“mouth”), German Maul (“muzzle, snout”). Alternative etymology connects muser and musa with Frankish *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtǭ (“leave, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to acquire, possess, control”). This would make it a cognate of Dutch musen (“to leisure”), Old High German *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”) and muozōn (“to be idle, have leisure or opportunity”), German Muße (“leisure”). More at empty.
See also for "amuse"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: amuse