amaze

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To surprise someone very much; to fill with wonder.

   Your ability to speak six languages amazes me!

Simplified etymology

Amaze is an Old English word that originally meant “to stun” or “stupefy.” Maze was probably formed later by shortening amaze.

The verb is derived from Middle English *amasen, *amase (“to bewilder, perplex”) (attested chiefly in the past participle form, and thus often difficult to distinguish from amased (adjective)), from Old English āmasian (“to confuse, astonish”), from ā- (perfective prefix) + *masian (“to confound, confuse, perplex; to amaze”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)). The English word is analysable as a- (intensifying prefix) + maze (“(archaic) to astonish, amaze, bewilder; to daze, stupefy”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English amase, from the verb…

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