stun

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /stʌn/ See IPA manual

Freq #14228

Meanings

1

verb
To surprise or shock someone so much that they cannot react.

The news of his death stunned the whole town.
2

verb
To make a person or animal unconscious or unable to move, usually with a blow.

The blow to the head stunned him for a few seconds.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to surprise or shock... daze astonish

2 verb · to make a person or animal... stupefy

Word family

Forms stunnedstuns

Derived forms electrostunpermastunstunlockstunnablestunnerstunpollstunrod

Simplified etymology

Stun arose in Middle English as a shortened form related to astone, the ancestor of astonish. The group traces back through Old French estoner to Latin ex-, “out,” and tonare, “to thunder.”

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”) or perhaps from an unattested Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”), from tonāre ("to thunder"; compare Latin attonāre). An alternative etymology derives stonen from Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *stunōn. See also astonish, astound. Compare Swedish stöna (“to moan, groan”), Danish stønne (“to…

*(s)tenh₂- Proto-Indo-European stonen Middle English estoner xno *stunō la-lat *stunōn frk stunian Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# stun

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /stʌn/
**Frequency rank:** 14228

## Meanings
1. To surprise or shock someone so much that they cannot react.
2. To make a person or animal unconscious or unable to move, usually with a blow.

## Examples
- The news of his death stunned the whole town.
- The blow to the head stunned him for a few seconds.

## Derived Forms
- electrostun
- permastun
- stunlock
- stunnable
- stunner
- stunpoll
- stunrod

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)tenh₂-
- Root: stonen
- Root: estoner
- Root: *stunō
- Root: *stunōn
- Root: stunian

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”) or perhaps from an unattested Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”), from tonāre ("to thunder"; compare Latin attonāre). An alternative etymology derives stonen from Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *stunōn. See also astonish, astound. Compare Swedish stöna (“to moan, groan”), Danish stønne (“to…

## AI Etymology
Stun is inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”) or perhaps from an unattested Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”), from tonāre ("to thunder"; compare Latin attonāre). An alternative etymology derives stonen from Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *stunōn. See also astonish, astound.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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