fun
English
Etymology
From fonne, fon (“foolish, simple, silly”) or fonnen (“make a fool of”), probably of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "gmq" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. 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 (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Frisian fonna, fone, fomne, variant forms of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Frisian fāmne, fēmne (“young woman, virgin”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *faimnijǭ (“maiden”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: fŭn, IPA(key): /fʌn/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "North England" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /fʊn/
Audio (US): (file) Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -ʌn
Noun
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.
- 2000, Robert Stanley, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adobe Photoshop 6, Alpha Books, page 377
- playful, often noisy, activity.
Synonyms
- (enjoyment, amusement): amusement, diversion, enjoyment, a laugh, pleasure
- (playful, often noisy, activity): boisterousness, horseplay, rough and tumble
Derived terms
Translations
|
|
Adjective
fun (comparative more fun or funner, superlative most fun or funnest)
- (informal) enjoyable, 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, flamboyant
- This year's fashion style is much more fun than recent seasons.
Usage notes
- Note that, prescriptively, the adjectival use of fun 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
|
Verb
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.
Translations
|
Anagrams
French
Adjective
fun (invariable)
Galician
Etymology 1
Inflected form of ir (“to go”).
Verb
fun
Etymology 2
Inflected form of ser (“to be”).
Verb
fun
Japanese
Romanization
fun
Tboli
Noun
fun
- English terms derived from Old Frisian
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ʌn
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English adjectives
- English informal terms
- English verbs
- English colloquialisms
- English basic words
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- French colloquialisms
- Galician non-lemma forms
- Galician verb forms
- Japanese non-lemma forms
- Japanese romanizations
- Tboli lemmas
- Tboli nouns