Amaze, v.
1. To put out of
one’s wits; to stun or stupefy, as by a blow to the head; to infatuate, craze. Obs.
Unlike most of the nouns that
describe a mental state, amaze is a
verb. This did not initially occur to me as I was researching word, but thought
it peculiar that I had at first considered it as a mental state rather than an
action imposed upon someone. This is until I studied its etymology – which
consists of two parts:
< A- prefix
(intensive) + MAZE (noun).
Maze
(OE: mase) is a noun of Old-English
origin, and it is suggested that it existed with its verbal-form counterpart
(OE: amusian) from their genesis.
Although, unlike amaze, maze has a much more extensive etymology
as well as a multitude of definitions that range from a state-of-mind, to a
labyrinth, plus everything in between. Although by the 18th century,
Maze, in its definition as a “state
of bewilderment,” was indistinguishable with amaze (literally being in a
maze state of mind) shown by its history:
1595 Blanchardine & Eglantine II.
Xiii. Sig. K2: “The faire Beautrix..stood in a maze.”
This word – or phrase depending on
how you look at it with its prefix – is not referring to its literal definition
of a labyrinth: the narrator is using the word maze as to define a spell the subject has been put under by, what I
presume, a beautiful object or person. Also, in this case, the prefix is
particularly important because it signifies that the emotion the narrator
“feels” is not of his own but induced from without.
So
not only is the usage of maze above,
as a mind-state, a definition derived from it’s literal meaning – a labyrinth –
personified, but its etymology suggests that the common usage of the word with
the prefix a- allowed for the modern emergence
of amaze – the action of inducing
said emotional response within oneself or another: a more common usage of the
word today.
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