amuse

• vt. 娛樂；消遣；使發笑；使愉快

前綴a-同ad-. muse, 沉思，思考。古義指不用干話，有時間思考學習，現指有時間休閑娛樂。比較sport, 古義不用干活，現指有時間運動。school, 古義不用干活，現指有時間讀書。

amuse

amuse: [15] Amuse is probably a French creation, formed with the prefix a- from the verb muser (from which English gets muse ‘ponder’ [14]). The current meaning ‘divert, entertain’ did not begin to emerge until the 17th century, and even so the commonest application of the verb in the 17th and 18th centuries was ‘deceive, cheat’. This seems to have developed from an earlier ‘bewilder, puzzle’, pointing back to an original sense ‘make someone stare open-mouthed’.

This links with the probable source of muser, namely muse ‘animal’s mouth’, from medieval Latin mūsum (which gave English muzzle [15]). There is no connection with the inspirational muse, responsible for music and museums.
=> muse, muzzle

amuse (v.)

late 15c., "to divert the attention, beguile, delude," from Middle French amuser "divert, cause to muse," from a "at, to" (but here probably a causal prefix) + muser "ponder, stare fixedly" (see muse (v.)). Sense of "divert from serious business, tickle the fancy of" is recorded from 1630s, but through 18c. the primary meaning was "deceive, cheat" by first occupying the attention. Bemuse retains more of the original meaning. Related: Amused; amusing.

1. Their antics never fail to amuse.

他們滑稽的舉止總是讓人發笑。

來自柯林斯例句

2. He could amuse us for hours with his stories of the theater.

他能接連幾小時地為我們講戲劇故事逗我們發笑.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

3. Tom makes up stories to amuse his little brother.

湯姆編故事逗他的小弟弟.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

4. They sang songs to amuse themselves during the break.

休息時,大家一起唱唱歌,娛樂娛樂.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

5. How do you amuse yourself in rainy weather?

你在雨天怎樣消遣?

來自《簡明英漢詞典》