fun

fun
\ \ [17] A fun was originally a ‘trick, hoax, practical joke’: ‘A Hackney Coachman he did hug her, and was not this a very good Fun?’ Thomas D’Urfey, Pills to Purge Melancholy 1719. It came from the contemporary verb funcheat, hoax’, which was presumably a variant of the Middle English verb fonmake a fool of’.
\ \ This in turn was a verbal use of the noun fonfool’, probable origin of modern English fond.
\ \ The current sense of fun, ‘amusement, merriment’, did not develop until the 18th century. The derived adjective funny, in the sense ‘amusing’, was roughly contemporary with it; ‘strange, odd’ is an early 19th-century semantic development.
\ \ Cf.FOND

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • fun — [ fɶn ] n. m. • 1974; mot angl. « amusement » ♦ Anglic. Joie délirante et exubérante. Adjt Ils sont fun. ♢ Région. (Québec) FUN [ fɔn ] ou FONNE : amusement. C est le fun ! Avoir du fun, du plaisir, de l agrément. « Si t es pas venu ici pour… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Fun — Fun, Fun, Fun Saltar a navegación, búsqueda «Fun, Fun, Fun» Sencillo de The Beach Boys del álbum Shut Down Volume 2 Lado B « Why Do Fools Fall In Love » Publicación 3 de febrero d …   Wikipedia Español

  • fun — /fun/, n., v., funned, funning, adj. n. 1. something that provides mirth or amusement: A picnic would be fun. 2. enjoyment or playfulness: She s full of fun. 3. for or in fun, as a joke; not seriously; playfully: His insults were only in fun. 4.… …   Universalium

  • fun — fun, jest, sport, game, play are comparable when they denote something (as an activity, an utterance, or a form of expression) that provides diversion or amusement or is intended to arouse laughter. Fun implies amusement or an engagement in what… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • fun — [fun] n. [< ME fonne, a fool, foolish, or fonnen, to be foolish < ?] 1. a) lively, joyous play or playfulness; amusement, sport, recreation, etc. b) enjoyment or pleasure 2. a source or cause of amusement or merriment, as an amusing person… …   English World dictionary

  • Fun — 〈[fʌ̣n] m.; ; unz.; salopp〉 Spaß ● Fun haben Spaß haben, sich amüsieren, sich sorglos vergnügen [engl., „Spaß“] * * * Fun [fan ], der; s [engl. fun]: Spaß, den jmd. bei bestimmten Tätigkeiten hat: F. haben. * * * FUN   [Abk. für Free Universal …   Universal-Lexikon

  • fun — first recorded in 1700 and stigmatized by Dr Johnson as a ‘low cant word’ (i.e. ephemeral jargon), has long hovered on the brink of adjectival status (It was really fun) and more recently has taken a step further in informal attributive uses such …   Modern English usage

  • Fun — steht für: Spaß (Amerikanismus), oft in Verbindung mit Sportarten, Musikrichtungen etc.: z. B. Fun Punk Fun (Gewichtseinheit), eine Gewichts und Geldeinheit im alten japanischen Maßsystem Shakkanhō FUN steht für: Flughafen Funafuti in Tuvalu …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fun — Fun, n. [Perh. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. fonn pleasure.] Sport; merriment; frolicsome amusement. Oddity, frolic, and fun. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] {To make fun of}, to hold up to, or turn into, ridicule. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Fun it — «Fun it» Canción de Queen Álbum Jazz (album) Publicación 1978 Grabación …   Wikipedia Español

  • fun — ► NOUN 1) light hearted pleasure or amusement. 2) a source of this. 3) playfulness or good humour. ► ADJECTIVE informal ▪ enjoyable. ● make fun of Cf. ↑make fun of …   English terms dictionary

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