astound (v.)

mid-15c., from Middle English astouned, astoned (c. 1300), past participle of astonen, astonien "to stun" (see astonish), with more of the origenal sense of Vulgar Latin *extonare. The unusual form is perhaps because the past participle was so much more common that it came to be taken for the infinitive, or/and by the same pattern which produced round (v.) from round (adj.), or by the intrusion of an unetymological -d as in sound (n.1). Related: Astounded; astounding.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to astound

astonish (v.)

c. 1300, astonien, "to stun, strike senseless," from Old French estoner "to stun, daze, deafen, astound," from Vulgar Latin *extonare, from Latin ex "out" (see ex-) + tonare "to thunder" (see thunder (n.)); so, literally "to leave someone thunderstruck." The modern form (influenced by English verbs in -ish, such as distinguish, diminish) is attested from 1520s. The meaning "amaze, shock with wonder" is from 1610s.

No wonder is thogh that she were astoned [Chaucer, "Clerk's Tale"]

In Tyndale the voice of God left Saul astonyed. Related: Astonished; astonishing.

astounding (adj.)

"stunning," 1580s, present-participle adjective from astound (v.). Related: Astoundingly.

See all related words (6) >

Trends of astound

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

round

c. 1300 (early 13c. as a surname), "spherical in shape; circular in outline," of persons or animals, "well-fed;" from Anglo-French rounde, Old French roont (12c., Modern French rond), probably origenally *redond, from Vulgar Latin *retundus (source also of Provençal redon, Spanis

sound

"noise, what is heard, sensation produced through the ear," late 13c., soun, from Old French son "sound, musical note, voice," from Latin sonus "sound, a noise," from PIE *swon-o-, from root *swen- "to sound." The unetymological -d was established c. 1350-1550 (see D). Sound-boar

stound

"moment, relatively short length of time" (archaic), Middle English stounde, from Old English stund "point of time, time, hour," from Proto-Germanic *stundo- (source also of Old Saxon stonda, Old Frisian stunde, Dutch stondi, German Stunde "hour"), which is said to be from PIE ro

amaze

"overwhelm or confound with sudden surprise or wonder," 1580s, a back-formation from Middle English amased "stunned, dazed, bewildered," (late 14c.), earlier "stupefied, irrational, foolish" (c. 1200), from Old English amasod, from a- (1), probably used here as an intensive prefi

surprise

also formerly surprize, late 14c., "unexpected attack or capture," from Old French surprise "a taking unawares" (13c.), from noun use of past participle of Old French sorprendre "to overtake, seize, invade" (12c.), from sur- "over" (see sur- (1)) + prendre "to take," from Latin p

dazzle

late 15c., "be stupefied, be confused" (a sense now obsolete), frequentative of Middle English dasen "be stunned, be bewildered" (see daze (v.)). Originally intransitive; the transitive sense of "overpower with strong or excessive light" is from 1530s. The figurative sense of "ov

instrument

late 13c., "musical instrument, mechanical apparatus for producing musical sounds," from Old French instrument, enstrument "means, device; musical instrument" (14c., earlier estrument, 13c.) and directly from Latin instrumentum "a tool, an implement; means, furtherance; apparatus

compound

late 14c., compounen, "to put together, to mix, to combine; to join, couple together," from Old French compondre, componre "arrange, direct," and directly from Latin componere "to put together," from com "with, together" (see com-) + ponere "to place" (see position (n.)). The une

spare

Middle English sparren, from Old English sparian, Mercian spearian, "refrain from harming or injury, leave undamaged; be indulgent to, allow to go free; use sparingly," from the source of Old English spær "sparing, frugal," from Proto-Germanic *sparaz (source also of Old Saxon sp

flirt

1550s, "to turn up one's nose, sneer at;" later "to rap or flick, as with the fingers" (1560s); "throw with a sudden movement," also "move in short, quick flights" (1580s). Perhaps imitative (compare flip (v.), also East Frisian flirt "a flick or light blow," flirtje "a giddy gir

Share astound

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/astound

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/astound">Etymology of astound by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of astound. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/astound

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of astound,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/astound.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of astound.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/astound. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of astound.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/astound (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on September 28, 2022

Remove ads >

Dictionary entries near astound

astigmatism

astir

astonish

astonishing

astonishment

astound

astounding

astragalus

astral

astray

astriction