fun

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: fŭn, IPA^(key): /fʌn/
• IPA^(key): /fʊn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌn

Noun

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.

Synonyms

• (enjoyment, amusement): amusement, diversion, enjoyment, a laugh, pleasure
• (playful, often noisy, activity): boisterousness, horseplay, rough and tumble

Derived terms

terms derived from fun (noun)

• for fun
• for the fun of it
• fun and games
• fun IS AJ
• funfair
• funfest
• fun-loving
• Video games, fun-maker
• funny
• fun run, fun runner, fun running
• funster

• good fun
• great fun
• have fun
• have fun with
• in fun
• like fun
• make fun of
• poke fun at

Translations

enjoyment or amusement

• Arabic: مَرَح m (maraḥ)
• Armenian: հաճույք (hy) (hačuykʻ), ուրախություն (hy) (uraxutʻyun)
• Assamese: ধেমালি (dhemali), উলাহ-বিলাহ (ulah-bilah), আমোদ (amüd)
• Bengali: মজা (moja), ফুর্তি (phurti)
• Bulgarian: забава (bg) (zabava), веселие (bg) (veselie)
• Catalan: diversió (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 玩 (zh) (wán), 熱鬧／热闹 (zh), 热闹 (zh) (rènao), 樂趣／乐趣 (zh) (lèqù), 乐趣 (zh) (lèqù)

• Czech: zábava (cs) f, legrace (cs) f
• Dutch: lol (nl) m, plezier (nl) n, pret (nl) f or m
• Esperanto: ŝercado
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: hauskuus (fi)
• French: amusement (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Spaß (de) m, Vergnügen (de) n, Amüsement (de) n
• Greek: κέφι (el) n (kéfi)
• Hebrew: הֲנָאָה (he) m (hānāʾā), כֵּיף (he) m (keif)
• Hindi: मज़ा (hi) m (mazā)
• Hungarian: móka (hu), tréfa (hu), poén (hu), szórakozás (hu)
• Irish: spraoi m, craic f, spórt m, áibhéar m, aiteas m
• Italian: divertimento (it) m
• Japanese: 遊び (ja) (asobi), 楽しみ (ja) (tanoshimi), 面白さ (omoshirosa)
• Korean: 재미 (ko) (jaemi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بۆ ھەوەس (bo hewes), رابواردن (rabwardin)

• Latin: delicia f
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Amüsement m, Spaass m
• Macedonian: забава f (zabava), разонода f (razonoda)
• Malay: please add this translation if you can
• Navajo: zhǫʼ
• Norwegian: moro (no)
• Persian: سرگرمی (fa) (sargarmi)
• Plautdietsch: Spos n
• Polish: ubaw (pl) m, radość (pl) f
• Portuguese: divertimento (pt) m, diversão (pt) f
• Romanian: distracție (ro) f, amuzament (ro) n, divertisment (ro) n, plăcere (ro) f
• Russian: поте́ха (ru) f (potéxa), весе́лье (ru) n (vesélʹje), заба́ва (ru) f (zabáva), развлече́ние (ru) n (razvlečénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: spòrs f, fealla-dhà m
• Serbo-Croatian: zȃbava (sh) f, próvod (sh) m
• Spanish: diversión (es) f, gracia (es) f
• Swedish: skoj (sv)
• Tagalog: saya (tl)
• Thai: ความสนุก (th) (kwaam-sà-nùk)
• Turkish: eğlence (tr)
• Ukrainian: поті́ха f (potíxa), заба́ва f (zabáva), розва́га f (rozváha)
• Urdu: مزہ m (mazā)
• Yiddish: שפּאַס m (shpas)

playful, often noisy, activity

• Armenian: զվարճանք (hy) (zvarčankʻ)
• Bulgarian: веселие (bg) (veselie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 玩 (zh) (wán), 熱鬧／热闹 (zh), 热闹 (zh) (rènao)

• Dutch: plezier (nl) n, pret (nl), lol (nl)
• Finnish: hauskanpito (fi)
• Greek: κέφι (el) n (kéfi)
• Hungarian: mulatozás (hu), mulatság (hu)
• Italian: allegria (it) f, svago (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ھەوەس (ckb) (hewes)

• Latin: lūdus (la) m
• Norwegian: moro (no)
• Plautdietsch: Spos n
• Polish: zabawa (pl) f
• Portuguese: divertimento (pt) m
• Scottish Gaelic: spòrs f, dibhearsan m

Adjective

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.

   • 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

2. (informal) Whimsical or flamboyant.

   This year's fashion style is much more fun than recent seasons.

Usage notes

• 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.

Translations

enjoyable, amusing

• Arabic: مَرِح (mariḥ)
• Armenian: ուրախ (hy) (urax), զվարթ (hy) (zvartʻ)
• Bengali: মজার (mojar)
• Bulgarian: смешен (bg) (smešen), забавен (bg) (zabaven)
• Catalan: divertit (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 好玩 (hou² waan^4-2)

  Mandarin: 好玩 (zh) (hǎowán)

• Danish: sjov (da)
• Dutch: plezierig (nl), leuk (nl), lollig (nl), plezant (nl) (Flanders)
• Esperanto: amuza
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: hauska (fi), kiva (fi)
• French: amusant (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: lustig (de), spaßig (de); to be fun: Spaß (de) machen
• Hebrew: מהנה (mehāne), (colloquial) כייפי (kefi)
• Hungarian: szórakoztató (hu), poénos, poén (hu), élvezetes (hu)
• Interlingua: amusante
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: divertente (it) m or f, intrigante (it) m or f
• Japanese: 楽しい (ja) (たのしい, tanoshii)
• Korean: 즐거운 (ko) (jeulgeoun), 재미있다 (ko) (jaemiitda)
• Lao: ມ່ວນ (mūan)
• Latin: dēlectābilis
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: flott
• Macedonian: забавен m (zabaven), разоноден m (razonoden)
• Malay: menyeronokkan
• Polish: bawny (archaic), zabawny (pl)
• Portuguese: divertido (pt)
• Romanian: distractiv (ro), vesel (ro) m or n, plăcut (ro) m or n
• Russian: заба́вный (ru) (zabávnyj), смешно́й (ru) (smešnój), весёлый (ru) (vesjólyj)
• Spanish: divertido (es)
• Swedish: rolig (sv), kul (sv), skojig (sv)
• Tagalog: masaya
• Thai: สนุก (th) (sà-nùk), มันส์ (th) (man) (slang)
• Turkish: eğlenceli (tr), neşeli (tr)
• Westrobothnian: ,

Verb

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.

Translations

to tease, kid, poke fun

• Bulgarian: закачам се (zakačam se)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: ^{(please verify)} 玩 (waan^4-2)

• Dutch: plagen (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: laskea leikkiä, narrata (fi), kiusoitella (fi)
• French: amuser (fr)

Anagrams

• FNU, NFU, unf

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Chibcha

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /βun/

Noun

fun

1. Alternative form of bun

References

• Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from English fun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fœn/
• Rhymes: -œn

Adjective

fun (invariable)

1. (colloquial) fun

   C’était juste pour le fun.

   It was just for fun.

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Galician

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fun

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ir

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fun

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ser

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Japanese

Romanization

fun

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

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Tboli

Noun

fun

1. owner

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Yoruba

Verb

fún

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

Preposition

fún

1. for, on behalf of