daze

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A state of being confused and unable to think clearly.

   After the accident, he wandered around in a daze.

2. 2
   verb

   To make someone confused or unable to think clearly, often by a shock or blow.

   The fall dazed her for a few moments.

From Middle English, back-formation from dazed. Compare Old Norse dasask (“to become weary”), with reflexive suffix -sk, Swedish dasa (“lie idly”), and Icelandic dasask (“to make weary with cold”). Also compare Proto-Germanic *dusāną, to slumber. Alternatively from Middle Dutch dasen (“act silly”).

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