# amuse

Pronunciation: US say "uh-MYOOZ" /əˈmjuːz/; UK

## Verb

1. To entertain or occupy someone pleasantly, often stirring enjoyable feelings.
   - Simple: To keep someone happy and entertained in a fun way.
   - _Magicians amuse their audiences with quick sleight of hand._
   - _Her witty stories amused everyone at the dinner table._
2. To cause laughter in someone; to strike a person as funny.
   - Simple: To make someone laugh or smile because something is funny.
   - _Silly puns amuse some people far more than others._
   - _The comedian's timing amused even the toughest critics._

## Verb

3. To keep someone in false expectation; to beguile or delude them with empty hopes. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To trick someone by keeping them hoping for something that will not come.
4. To engage or absorb someone's attention completely; also, to distract or bewilder them. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To take up all of someone's attention, or to confuse and distract them.
   - _Sudden alarms amuse soldiers and scatter their focus at the worst moment._
   - _The riddle amused the scholars for hours as they pondered its meaning._

## Origin

Amuse comes from Late Middle English amusen ("to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively"), from Old French amuser ("to stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought"), built from a- plus muser ("to stare stupidly, gape, wander, or waste time"). The ultimate origin is uncertain and obscure: it may go back to a word for "snout" (compare Medieval Latin mūsum, German Maul), or possibly to Frankish *muoza ("careful attention, leisure, idleness").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/amuse (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).