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amuse

Pronunciation: /əˈmjuːz/

The English word “amuse” has 4 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To entertain or occupy (someone or something) in a pleasant manner; to stir (someone) with pleasing emotions.
  2. To cause laughter or amusement; to be funny.
  3. To keep in expectation; to beguile; to delude.
  4. To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder.

Etymology

From Late Middle English *amusen (“to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on”), from Old French amuser (“to stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought”), from a- + muser (“to stare stupidly at, gape, wander, waste time, loiter, think carefully about, attend to”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Cognate with Occitan musa (“idle waiting”), Italian musare (“to gape idly about”). Possibly from Old…

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