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Webster 1913 Edition

Astonish

As-ton′ish

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Astonished
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Astonishing
.]
[OE.
astonien
,
astunian
,
astonen
, OF.
estoner
, F.
étonner
, fr. L.
ex
out +
tonare
to thunder, but perhaps influenced by E.
stun
. See
Thunder
,
Astound
,
Astony
.]
1.
To stun; to render senseless, as by a blow.
[Obs.]
Enough, captain; you have
astonished
him. [Fluellen had struck Pistol].
Shakespeare
The very cramp-fish [i. e., torpedo] . . . being herself not benumbed, is able to
astonish
others.
Holland.
2.
To strike with sudden fear, terror, or wonder; to amaze; to surprise greatly, as with something unaccountable; to confound with some sudden emotion or passion.
Musidorus . . . had his wits
astonished
with sorrow.
Sidney.
I, Daniel . . . was
astonished
at the vision.
Dan. viii. 27.
Syn. – To amaze; astound; overwhelm; surprise.
–
Astonished
,
Surprised
. We are surprised at what is unexpected. We are astonished at what is above or beyond our comprehension. We are taken by surprise. We are struck with astonishment.
C. J. Smith.
See
Amaze
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Astonish

ASTON'ISH

,
Verb.
T.
[L. attono, to astonish; ad and tono. See Tone and Stun.]
To stun or strike dumb with sudden fear, terror, surprise or wonder; to amaze; to confound with some sudden passion.
I Daniel was astonished at the vision. Dan. 8.

Definition 2024

astonish

astonish

English

Verb

astonish ‎(third-person singular simple present astonishes, present participle astonishing, simple past and past participle astonished)

  1. To surprise, astound, flabbergast.

Synonyms

    • 1813 — Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
      "I have no right to give my opinion," said Wickham, "as to his being agreeable or otherwise. I am not qualified to form one. I have known him too long and too well to be a fair judge. It is impossible for me to be impartial. But I believe your opinion of him would in general astonish — and perhaps you would not express it quite so strongly anywhere else. Here you are in your own family."

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology

From an alteration (due to words ending in -ish: abolish, banish, cherish, establish, furnish, etc.) of earlier astony, astone, aston, astun ‎(“to astonish, confound, stun”), from Middle English astonien, astunien, astonen, astunen, astounen ‎(“to astound, stun, astonish”), from Old English *āstunian, from ā- ‎(perfective prefix) + stunian ‎(“to make a loud sound, crash, resound, roar, bang, dash, impinge, knock, confound, astonish, stupefy”), from Proto-Germanic *stunōną ‎(“to sound, crash, bang, groan”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ten-, *(s)ton- ‎(“to thunder, roar, groan”), equivalent to a- +‎ stun. Compare German erstaunen ‎(“to astonish, amaze”). Influenced by Old French estoner, estuner, estonner ‎(“to stun”), either from an assumed Latin *extonare, or from Old Frankish *stunen ‎(“to stun”), related to Middle High German stunen ‎(“to knock, strike, stun”) and thus also to the Old English word above.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /əˈstɒnɪʃ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈstɑːnɪʃ/

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