Amusement

How to spell amusement

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce amusement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does amusement mean?

1. nounThe feeling of being entertained or finding something funny or pleasing.
2. nounAn activity or attraction that provides entertainment or a pleasant way to pass the time.

Amusement in a sentence

• A flicker of amusement crossed her face as she read the memo.

• The seaside town offered plenty of amusement for visiting families.

• He watched the kittens tumble across the floor with quiet amusement.

• Reading detective novels was his favourite amusement on long train journeys.

Where does amusement come from?

Language of origin: French

This word arrived in English from the French amusement, which was built on the verb amuser. In Old French, amuser combined the prefix a- with muser, a verb that literally meant to stare stupidly, to dawdle, or to idle away time, and which is also the source of the modern word 'muse' for thoughtful pondering. When English borrowed amuse in the 1500s it first carried that older sense of diverting or distracting someone, even deceiving or beguiling them, rather than simply making them laugh. The lighter modern meaning of pleasant entertainment grew steadily through the 1600s, and the noun amusement followed the same path toward the idea of enjoyment and diversion. A useful spelling memory is that the heart of the word is plain 'amuse', so you write amuse and then add a clean -ment, with a single s that nonetheless sounds like a z.

How the word is built

• a- (Old French, towards/to)
• muse (from Old French muser: to ponder, to stare idly)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)