surprise

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English, from Middle French surprise (“an overtake”), from noun use of past participle of Old French surprendre (“to overtake”) from sur- (“over”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere (“to grasp, seize”)

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /səˈpɹaɪz/, SAMPA: /s@"pr\aIz/
• (US) enPR: səprīzʹ, IPA: /səˈpɹaɪz/, /sɚˈpɹaɪz/, SAMPA: /s@"pr\aIz/, /s@`"pr\aIz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪz

Noun

surprise (plural surprises)

1. Something not expected.

   It was a surprise to find out I owed twice as much as I thought I did.

2. (attributive) Unexpected.

   The surprise attack was devastating.

3. The feeling that something unexpected has happened.

   Imagine my surprise on learning I owed twice as much as I thought I did.

Synonyms

• (attributively: unexpected): unexpected
• (feeling): astonishment

Derived terms

• take by surprise

Translations

something not expected

Arabic: مُفاجَأَة (ar) (mufājaʿa) f., دهشة (ar) (dáhša) f. Armenian: անակնկալ (hy) (anaknkal) Catalan: sorpresa (ca) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 驚奇 (cmn), 惊奇 (cmn) (jīngqí) Czech: překvapení (cs) n. Danish: overraskelse (da) Dutch: verrassing (nl) f. Esperanto: surprizo (eo) Finnish: yllätys (fi) French: surprise (fr) f. German: Überraschung (de) f. Greek: έκπληξη (el) (ékpliksi) f., ξάφνιασμα (el) (ksáfniazma) n. Hungarian: meglepetés (hu) Irish: ionadh (ga) m.

Italian: sorpresa (it) f. Japanese: 驚き (ja) (おどろき, odoroki) Luxembourgish: Iwwerraschung (lb) f. Norwegian Bokmål: overraskelse (no) m. Norwegian Nynorsk: overrasking (nn) Polish: niespodzianka (pl) f. Portuguese: surpresa (pt) f. Romanian: surpriză (ro) f., surprindere (ro) f. Russian: сюрприз (ru) (s'urpríz) m., неожиданность (ru) (neožídannost’) f. Scottish Gaelic: iongnadh (gd) m. Serbian: изненађење (sr) Slovene: presenečenje (sl) n. Spanish: sorpresa (es) f. Swedish: överraskning (sv) c. Turkish: sürpriz (tr)

attributively: that is unexpected

Armenian: անակնկալ (hy) (anaknkal) Danish: overraskelse (da)s- Dutch: verrassings-, verrassend, onverwacht Finnish: yllätys- French: surprise (fr) German: Überraschungs- e. g. Überraschungsangriff Greek: αιφνιδιασμός (el) (traifnidiasmós) m.

Hungarian: meglepetésszerű (hu), váratlan (hu) Norwegian: overraskning (no)s- m., overraskelses- (no) Portuguese: surpresa (pt) Romanian: surpriză (ro) f. Spanish: sorpresa (es) Swedish: överraskning (sv)s- Turkish: sürpriz (tr)

feeling that something unexpected has happened

Arabic: دَهْشة (ar) (dáhša) f. Armenian: զարմանք (hy) (zarmank’) Czech: překvapení (cs) n. Danish: overraskelse (da) Dutch: verrassing (nl) f., verbazing (nl) f. Finnish: hämmästys (fi) German: Überraschung (de) f. Greek: έκπληξη (el) f. Template:tr≠ékpliksi Hungarian: ámulat (hu), megdöbbenés (hu) Irish: ionadh (ga) m.

Japanese: 驚き (ja) (おどろき, odoroki) Norwegian: overraskelse (no) m. Polish: niespodzianka (pl) f. Portuguese: surpresa (pt) f. Romanian: surprindere (ro) f., surpriză (ro) f. Russian: удивление (ru) (udivl'énije) n. Slovene: presenečenje (sl) n. Spanish: sorpresa (es) f. Swedish: överraskning (sv) c., förvåning (sv) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Korean: 놀람 (nollam) Telugu: ఆశ్చర్యం (āśčaryaṁ), అచ్చెరువు (aččeruvu) Thai: แปลกใจ (plǣk-ćai), ตะลึงพรึงเพริด (ta-lüŋ-prüŋ-prĕt) Vietnamese: bất ngờ

Verb

surprise (third-person singular simple present surprises, present participle surprising, simple past and past participle surprised)

1. (transitive) To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted.

   It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did.

2. (transitive) To do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise.

   He doesn't know that I'm in the country - I thought I'd turn up at his house and surprise him.

3. (intransitive) To undergo or witness something unexpected.

   He doesn't surprise easily.

4. (intransitive) To cause surprise.
5. (transitive) To attack unexpectedly.
6. (transitive) To take unawares.

Translations

cause (someone) to feel surprise

Arabic: باغت (ar) (bāġata), فاجأ (ar) (fājaʿa) (present: يفاجئ (yufājiʿ)), دهش (ar) (dáhiša) Armenian: զարմացնել (hy) (zarmac’nel) Catalan: sorprendre (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 使吃驚 (cmn), 使吃惊 (cmn) (shǐ chījīng) (be surprised: 吃驚, 吃惊 (chījīng)) Czech: překvapit (cs) Danish: overraske (da) Dutch: verbazen (nl), verrassen (nl) Esperanto: surprizi (eo) Finnish: yllättää (fi), hämmästyttää (fi) French: surprendre (fr), étonner (fr) German: überraschen (de) Greek: αιφνιδιάζω (el) (aifnidiázo), ξαφνιάζω (el) (ksafniázo), εκπλήσσω (el) (ekplísso)

Hungarian: meglep (hu) Italian: stupire (it), sorprendere (it) Japanese: 驚かす (ja) (おどろかす, odorokasu) Korean: 놀라게 하다 (nollage hada) Norwegian: overraske (no) Persian: تعجب ساختن (fa) (ta'ajob sâxtan) Polish: dziwić Portuguese: surpreender (pt) Romanian: surprinde (ro) Russian: (imperfective) удивлять (ru) (udivlját’), (perfective) удивить (ru) (udivít') Slovene: presenetiti (sl) Spanish: sorprender (es) Swedish: överraska (sv) Telugu: ఆశ్చర్యపరచు (AScharyaparacu) Turkish: şaşırtmak (tr)

do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise

Armenian: անակնկալի բերել (hy) (anaknkali berel), զարմացնել (hy) (zarmac’nel) Danish: overraske (da) Dutch: verrassen (nl) Finnish: yllättää (fi) French: surprendre (fr) Greek: αιφνιδιάζω (el) (aifnidiázo), ξαφνιάζω (el) (ksafniázo)

Norwegian: overraske (no) Polish: zaskakiwać Romanian: surprinde (ro) Slovene: presenetiti (sl) Swedish: överraska (sv) Turkish: şaşırtmak (tr), sürpriz yapmak (tr)

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Dutch

Etymology

From French surprise.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sʏrˈpriːzə/

Noun

surprise f. (plural surprises, diminutive surprisetje)

1. A gift wrapped in an ingenious or creative manner. Often given anonymously during Sinterklaas celebrations in a similar way to secret Santa.

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French

Etymology

From verb surprendre.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Verb

surprise

1. feminine form of surpris

   Je t'ai surprise en flagrant délit.

Noun

surprise f. (plural surprises)

1. surprise (something unexpected)