astonish

Probably an alteration (due to words ending in -ish: abolish, banish, cherish, establish, furnish, etc.) of earlier astony, astone, astun (“to astonish, stun”), from Middle English astoneyen, astonen (“to stun, astonish”), variant of stonen, stoneyen (“to stun, astonish”) prefixed with a-. However, compare Old French estonir, a rare variant of estoner (“to stun, astonish”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈstɒnɪʃ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈstɑnɪʃ/

• Audio (US):

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• Hyphenation: as‧ton‧ish

astonish (third-person singular simple present astonishes, present participle astonishing, simple past and past participle astonished)

1. To surprise greatly.

   Synonyms: astound, flabbergast, surprise, astony (obsolete)

   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

     "I have no right to give my opinion," said Wickham, "as to his being agreeable or otherwise. I am not qualified to form one. I have known him too long and too well to be a fair judge. It is impossible for me to be impartial. But I believe your opinion of him would in general astonish — and perhaps you would not express it quite so strongly anywhere else. Here you are in your own family."