Amaze

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /əˈmeɪz/
• Rhymes: -eɪz

Origin

From Middle English amasen ("to bewilder, perplex"), from Old English āmasian ("to confuse, astonish"), from ā- + *masian ("to confound") from *mæs ("delusion, bewilderment"), from Proto-Germanic *mas-, *masōną ("to confound, be weary, dream"), from Proto-Indo-European *mā- ("to stupefy"). Akin to Old Norse masa ("to struggle, be confused"), Ancient Greek μάτη (mátē, "folly"), μέμαα (mémaa, "I was eager"). More at automatic.

Full definition of amaze

Verb

1. (obsolete) To stupefy; to knock unconscious. 13th-17th c.
2. (obsolete) To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze.
• Shakespearea labyrinth to amaze his foes
3. (obsolete) To terrify, to fill with panic. 16th-18th c.
• 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York Review Books 2001, p. 261:Fear amazeth many men that are to speak or show themselves in public assemblies, or before some great personages ...
4. To fill with wonder and surprise; to astonish, astound, surprise or perplex. from 16th c.He was amazed when he found that the girl was a robot.
• Bible, Matthew xii. 23And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
• GoldsmithSpain has long fallen from amazing Europe with her wit, to amusing them with the greatness of her Catholic credulity.
5. (intransitive) To undergo amazement; to be astounded.

Related terms

• amazing
• amazement

Noun

1. (now poetic) Amazement, astonishment. from 16th c.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.ii:All in amaze he suddenly vp start
  With sword in hand, and with the old man went ....
• 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska 2005, p. 103:Shattuck looked at him in amaze.
• 1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1361:She took the proffered cheque and stared at it with puzzled amaze, dazed by her own behaviour.