amuse
Meaningto keep from the Muses; to idle
Common meaning: to entertain
- ato, towards, at (Latin ad-, often through French a-)
- musstare, gaze idlySkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 22 · scan
‘to, towards, at (Latin ad-, often through French a-)’ + ‘stare, gaze idly’ → amuse
Note: amuse is not from the Muses. It is French a- (to, at) + Old French muser, to stare or gaze idly. Skeat scan
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Old French muser ‘stare, gaze idly’ (Skeat AMUSE).
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry Μοῦσα, p. 520 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry AMUSE, p. 22 · dictionary scan
Roots
- muser Old French “stare, gaze idly”
Related words
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