amuse

Meaning

Verb

  • To entertain or occupy (someone or something) in a pleasant manner; to stir (an individual) with pleasing emotions.
  • To cause laughter or amusement; to be funny.
  • To keep in expectation; to beguile; to delude.
  • To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder.

Related

Similar words

Origin

  • From Late Middle English *amusen, from Old French amuser, from a- + muser, 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 –, from Proto-Germanic *mū- ("muzzle, snout"), from Proto-Indo-European *mū- ("lips, muzzle"). Compare North Frisian müs, mös, 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, German Muße ("leisure"). More at empty.

Modern English dictionary

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