Etymograph

English

amaze

Amaze comes from Middle English *amasen ‘to bewilder, perplex’, from Old English āmasian ‘to confuse, astonish’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- ‘to beckon, signal’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meh₂-1‘to beckon, signal’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úd2‘up, out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ud-s-2‘up, out’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uz-3‘up, out’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*uʀ-3‘up, out, over’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150āmasian1‘to confuse, astonish’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*amasen1‘to bewilder, perplex’reconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590amaze1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English amaze
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *uz-
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English a-
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto II: “All in amaze he ſuddenly vp ſtart / VVith…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)meh₂-Wiktionary, English amaze‘to beckon, signal’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*údWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *uz-‘up, out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ud-s-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *uz-‘up, out’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*uz-Wiktionary, Old English a-‘up, out’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*uʀ-Wiktionary, Old English a-‘up, out, over’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150āmasianWiktionary, English amaze‘to confuse, astonish’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*amasenWiktionary, English amaze‘to bewilder, perplex’reconstructed
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1590amazeWiktionary, English amaze. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto II: “All in amaze he ſuddenly vp ſtart / VVith…”

The story

The verb is derived from Middle English *amasen, *amase (‘to bewilder, perplex’) (attested chiefly in the past participle form, and thus often difficult to distinguish from amased (adjective)), from Old English āmasian (‘to confuse, astonish’), from ā- (perfective prefix) + *masian (‘to confound, confuse, perplex; to amaze’) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (‘to beckon, signal’)). The English word is analysable as a- (intensifying prefix) + maze (‘(archaic) to astonish, amaze, bewilder; to daze, stupefy’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- ‘to beckon, signal’

main, commander, manner, manage, manual, mandate, manga, manifest, commodore, commando, commandant, commendation, commandment, manus, mano, mastiff, commandeer, manacles, 29 more

through Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘up, out’

about, out, utter, outward, uterus, uterine, hubris, hysteresis, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *uz- ‘up, out’

ago, 3 more

through Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- ‘up, out, over’

awaken, aghast, 1 more

through Old English āmasian ‘to confuse, astonish’

amazing, 1 more

Today it means

verb To fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amaze”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *uz-, Old English a-. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- / amaze

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