fun
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English fonne, fon (“foolish, simple, silly”) or fonnen (“make a fool of”), from Middle English fonne (“a fool, dupe”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish fånig (“foolish”), Swedish fåne (“a fool”). Compare also Norwegian fomme, fume (“a fool”). More at fon, fond.
As a noun, fun is recorded from 1700, with a meaning “a cheat, trick, hoax”, from a verb fun meaning “to cheat, trick” (1680s). The meaning “diversion, amusement” dates to the 1720s. The older meaning is preserved in the phrase to make fun of (1737) and in usage of the adjective funny. The use of fun as adjective is newest and is due to reanalysis of the noun; this was incipient in the mid-19th century.
Alternative etymology connected Middle English fonne with Old Frisian fonna, fone, fomne, variant forms of fāmne, fēmne (“young woman, virgin”), from Proto-West Germanic *faimnijā, from Proto-Germanic *faimnijǭ (“maiden”), from Proto-Indo-European *peymen- (“girl”), *poymen- (“breast milk”). If so, then cognate with Old English fǣmne (“maid, virgin, damsel, bride”), West Frisian famke (“girl”), Saterland Frisian fone, fon (“woman, maid, servant," also "weakling, simpleton”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
fun (uncountable)
- amusement, enjoyment or pleasure
- 2000, Robert Stanley, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adobe Photoshop 6, Alpha Books, page 377:
- Grafting your boss's face onto the hind end of a donkey is fun, but serious fun is when you create the impossible and it looks real.
- playful, often noisy, activity.
SynonymsEdit
- (enjoyment, amusement): amusement, diversion, enjoyment, a laugh, pleasure
- (playful, often noisy, activity): boisterousness, horseplay, rough and tumble
Derived termsEdit
- barrel of fun
- for fun
- for fun
- for the fun of it
- for the fun of it
- fun and games
- fun and games
- fun bags
- funfair
- funfair
- funfest
- funfest
- fun house
- fun in a bun
- fun IS AJ
- fun IS AJ
- fun-lover
- fun-loving
- fun-loving
- fun-maker
- funny
- fun on a bun
- fun pack
- fun park
- fun run, fun runner, fun running
- fun size
- fun-size
- fun-sized
- fun sponge
- funster
- good fun
- great fun
- have fun
- have fun with
- in fun
- it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye
- like fun
- make fun of
- no fun
- poke fun at
- terms derived from fun (noun)
TranslationsEdit
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AdjectiveEdit
fun (comparative more fun or funner, superlative most fun or funnest)
- (informal) Enjoyable or amusing.
- We had a fun time at the party.
- He is such a fun person to be with.
- 2016 January 11, Tom Bateman, quoted in Nigel Hunt, "Jekyll and Hyde, TV revamp of Robert Louis Stevenson classic, debuts on CBC-TV" CBC News, Canada:
- He's the liberated character that everyone wants to be, so he was very fun to play
- (informal) Whimsical or flamboyant.
- This year's fashion style is much more fun than recent seasons.
Usage notesEdit
- Note that, prescriptively, the adjectival use of fun, instead of funny as in a funny movie, is often considered unacceptable in formal contexts. This includes censure of the comparative and superlative funner and funnest, but equally constructions such as very fun (rather than, say, a lot of fun). For more, see Quinion's discussion.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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VerbEdit
fun (third-person singular simple present funs, present participle funning, simple past and past participle funned)
- (colloquial) To tease, kid, poke fun at, make fun of.
- Hey, don't get bent out of shape over it; I was just funning you.
TranslationsEdit
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See alsoEdit
AnagramsEdit
ChibchaEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
fun
- Alternative form of bun
ReferencesEdit
- Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
fun (invariable)
- (colloquial) fun
- C'était juste pour le fun.
- It was just for fun.
GalicianEdit
Etymology 1Edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
VerbEdit
fun
Etymology 2Edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
VerbEdit
fun
JapaneseEdit
RomanizationEdit
fun
TboliEdit
NounEdit
fun
YorubaEdit
VerbEdit
fún
PrepositionEdit
fún