amuza

Forms

amuza (third-person singular present amuză, past participle amuzat) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French amuser.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} DELR notes that the French verb first meant “to divert, to fool, to make someone waste time”, and derives it from muser (“to gape, to idle, to loiter”), from Old French mus (“snout”), from Late Latin mūsus.^[3] Wiktionary calls the origin of the Old French verb uncertain and gives a second explanation through Old High German muoza (“leisure, idleness”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to 1852, in Stamati.^[3][6] Tiktin glosses it with German amüsieren and unterhalten, and the reflexive a se amuza with sich unterhalten.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The DA has the transitive “to entertain someone, to make the time pass pleasantly for them” and the reflexive “to pass one's time with light, pleasant things”.^[7] CADE adds making someone laugh.^[8] The verb was first conjugated with -ez as well: Tiktin and MDA2 record the old present amuzez beside amuz, and CADE still gives both.^[6][4][8]

The adjective amuzant “amusing” came from French in the same year as the verb, 1852, and the noun amuzament “amusement” in 1857;^[3][2] amuzator “entertainer” was formed in Romanian on the verb, after French amuseur, and is recorded from 1900.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1852 – the first record, in Stamati, together with amuzant.^[3][6]
• 1857 – amuzament “amusement”.^[3]
• 1900 – amuzator “entertainer”.^[3]
• 1913 – the DA's article.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To amuse, to entertain; to make someone laugh.^[5][4][8]
2. (reflexive) To have fun, to enjoy oneself; to pass the time with pleasant things.^[5][4]

Word family

• amuzator

Related words

• amuzament
• amuzant

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. amuza
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. amuza
4. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 58
5. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 38
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. amuza
7. ^ Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. amuza
8. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. amuza