接頭辞a-はad-と同じ。 muse、瞑想する、考える。働くことなく、考えたり勉強したりする時間を持つことを意味する sport を amusement と比較する。働く必要はないが、運動する時間があることを意味する sport と、働く必要はないが、勉強する時間があることを意味する school を比較する。
英語の語源
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.
例文
1. Their antics never fail to amuse .
彼らの滑稽な振る舞いはいつも人を笑わせる。
2.He could amuse us for hours with his stories of the theater.
彼は何時間も演劇の話をして私たちを笑わせることができる。
3.Tom makes up stories to amuse his little brother.
トムは彼の弟をからかった。
4.They sang songs to amuse themselves during the break.