Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “amused” come from?

Amused comes from Middle English -ed, Old English -od, Old French a-, Latin ad-, and Proto-Indo-European h₂éd, ultimately from a root meaning to add or move toward.

amused (English): simple past tense and past participle of amuse;...

Definitions

  1. simple past tense and past participle of amuse;...

Ancestry of “amused”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishamuseTo entertain or occupy in a pleasant manner; to...
2Middle Englishamusento mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on
3Old Frenchamuserto stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought
4Old Frencha-indicating movement towards something;...
5Latinad-to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it...
6Proto-Italic*ad-—

Words derived from “amused”

  • amusedly
  • unamused
  • unamusedly
  • amusedness
Every word from Proto-Italic *ad- →