Etymologically
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surprise

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /səˈpraɪz/, US /sɚˈpraɪz/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English surprise, also supprise,[2] borrowed from Middle French surprise (“a taking unawares”),[3][2] the noun use of the feminine past participle of surprendre (“to overtake, seize”),[3][2][4] from Medieval Latin superprehendere (“to seize”),[5][4][6] from super- and prehendere (“to grasp, seize”),[5][3] from Proto-Indo-European *ghend- (“to seize, take”).[3] The verb comes from the noun or from the Old French participle.[3][5] The old spelling surprize was influenced by prize.[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sudden, unexpected attack or capture: about 1457 in Barnhart and 1457 in the OED,[2][8] and the late 14th century in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

From the 15th century a surprise was a sudden seizure of a place, and one could even speak of “the surprise of Troy” after a ten-year siege;[6] over time the idea of force faded and that of the unexpected came to the fore.[6] The verb meant “to overcome”, of emotions, in the late 14th century,[3] “to attack without warning” by the 1540s,[3] “to come upon unexpectedly” from the 1590s,[3] and “to astonish” from the 1650s.[3] Something unexpected is from 1592,[2][8] and the feeling it causes from 1608, in Shakespeare's Pericles.[2] Take by surprise is from the 1690s.[3] A surprise party was first a stealthy military detachment (1826), and the festive sense is attested by 1857.[3]

Timeline

  • 1457 – a sudden attack.[2][8]
  • 1540s – verb, to attack without warning.[3]
  • 1592 – something unexpected.[2][8]
  • 1608 – the feeling of surprise.[2]
  • 1650s – verb, to astonish.[3]
  • 1690s – take by surprise.[3]
  • 1857 – surprise party.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An unexpected event, fact or gift.
  2. The feeling caused by something unexpected; astonishment.
  3. The act of taking someone unawares.

Verb

  1. To cause to feel wonder or amazement by being unexpected.
  2. To come upon or catch unawares.
  3. To attack or capture suddenly and without warning.

Word family

  • surpriser
  • surprising
  • surprisingly
  • surprisal
  • surprise party
  • comprehend
  • apprehend
  • prehensile
  • prison
  • enterprise
  • reprise

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes surprise from astonish, amaze, astound, dumbfound and flabbergast, and says surprise is the mildest, stressing that something was not expected.[9] The Century Dictionary, quoted in Etymonline, says we are surprised because we did not expect a thing, astonished by its remarkableness, and amazed because we cannot understand it.[3]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin