Wiktionary

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)

  1. 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.
  2. playful, often noisy, activity.

SynonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

AdjectiveEdit

fun (comparative more fun or funner, superlative most fun or funnest)

  1. (informal) Enjoyable or amusing.
    We had a fun time at the party.
    He is such a fun person to be with.
  2. (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

VerbEdit

fun (third-person singular simple present funs, present participle funning, simple past and past participle funned)

  1. (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

See alsoEdit

etymologically unrelated multiword terms containing "fun"

AnagramsEdit

ChibchaEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

fun

  1. 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

Borrowed from English fun.

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

fun (invariable)

  1. (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

  1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ir

Etymology 2Edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

VerbEdit

fun

  1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ser

JapaneseEdit

RomanizationEdit

fun

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ふん
  2. Rōmaji transcription of フン

TboliEdit

NounEdit

fun

  1. owner

YorubaEdit

VerbEdit

fún

  1. give
  2. choke, squeeze, strangle, throttle
  3. scatter, strew
  4. sew

PrepositionEdit

fún

  1. for, on behalf of
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