mazen.¹

Brit.

/meɪz/, U.S.

/meɪz/

Forms: Middle English masse, Middle English–1700s (1800s– English regional (western)) mase, Middle English– maze, 1700s– mize (Irish English).

Origin: Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymons: English *mæs, *mase.

Etymology: Probably the reflex of an unattested Old English noun *mæs or *mase, of which amasian amaze v. is a verbal derivative (it is possible that an unprefixed verb *masian also existed; compare maze v.); further etymology uncertain.A group of North Germanic words have sometimes been regarded as perhaps cognate with this word: Norwegian mas exhausting labour, nagging, (in archaic or regional use also whim, fancy, idle chatter), Danish mas trouble, bother, Swedish mas (archaic) sluggard; also Norwegian mase to bustle, fuss about, strive, slave away, reiterate, pester, beg, (reflexive) to wear oneself out, masast (regional or archaic) to start to dream, masog worn out, Danish mase to toil, Swedish masa to idle, dawdle, (reflexive, archaic) to bask, sun oneself. Slightly earlier currency in sense 4a is perhaps implied by a place name, the Mase (Southwark, Surrey; 1422; now Maze Court), which was formerly applied to the gardens and walks of the Abbot of Battle's riverside inn.

I. A state of mental confusion, and related senses.

†1. With the. [Compare the adj. 7a.]

a. Delirium; delusion; disappointment. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > disappointment > [noun]

mazec1300

discomfiturea1400

delusiona1513

disappointing1533

disappointment1577

disappoint1642

heart-scald1888

dust and ashes1902

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > delirium or raving

wood dreameOE

mazec1300

paraphrenesisa1398

ravinga1398

deliramentc1450

idleness1535

delirium1563

randing1583

calenture1593

deliration1598

taveringa1599

ravery1599

delirement1613

debacchation1633

delirancy1645

deliry1657

deliriousness1671

paraphrenitis1683

paraphrosyne1684

deliracy1689

delirousness1694

paracope1749

paraphora1749

wandering1836

paralerema1848

paraleresis1857

paraphronesis1857

rambling1897

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > fancy or fantastic notion > deceptive fancy or illusion > [noun] > delusive habit or state

phantasma1250

mazec1300

fantasy1340

fancy1597

illusiveness1727

illusion1774

mythicalism1896

c1300 Judas Iscariot (Harl.) 14 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 107 Ȝe..hit is þe mase, and also hit wole gon.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6585 (MED) Wite..alle men..Þat it nis bote þe pure mase [v.r. masse] eni kinges poer.

c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. 155 (MED) Heo ledeþ þe lawe as hire luste and loue-dayes makeþ, Þe Mase for a Mene mon, þauȝ he mote euere.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. Prol. 196 (MED) Better is a litel losse þan a longe sorwe, Þe mase amonge vs alle.

b. Worldly, vain, or dissolute amusement or diversion. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

c1350 How Good Wife taught her Daughter (Emmanuel) (1948) 47 (MED) Go þou noȝt to toune, as it were a gase, Fram house to house to seken þe mase.

c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. i. 6 (MED) Sest þou þis peple, How besy þei ben about þe mase?

†2. A delusive fancy; a trick or deception. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > [noun]

gleea700

playeOE

gameeOE

lakec1175

skentingc1175

wil-gomenc1275

solacec1290

deduit1297

envesurec1300

playingc1300

disport1303

spilea1325

laking1340

solacingc1384

bourdc1390

mazec1390

welfarea1400

recreationc1400

solancec1400

sporta1425

sportancea1450

sportingc1475

deport1477

recreancea1500

shurting15..

ebate?1518

recreating1538

abatementc1550

pleasuring1556

comfortmenta1558

disporting1561

pastiming1574

riec1576

joyance1595

spleen1598

merriment1600

amusement1603

amusing1603

entertainment1612

spleena1616

divertisement1651

diversion1653

disportment1660

sporting of nature1666

fun1726

délassement1804

gammock1841

pleasurement1843

dallying1889

rec1922

good, clean fun1923

cracka1966

looning1966

shoppertainment1993

the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > fancy or fantastic notion > deceptive fancy or illusion > [noun]

fantasyc1325

fairyc1330

illusionc1374

mazec1390

phantasma1398

dream1489

phantom1557

seeming1576

phantasma1598

fancy1609

hallucinationa1652

phantastry1656

phasm1659

fata Morgana1818

dreamland1832

stardust1906

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > [noun] > a trick, deception

wrenchc888

swikec893

braida1000

craftOE

wile1154

crookc1175

trokingc1175

guile?c1225

hocket1276

blink1303

errorc1320

guileryc1330

sleightc1340

knackc1369

deceitc1380

japec1380

gaudc1386

syllogism1387

mazec1390

mowa1393

train?a1400

trantc1400

abusionc1405

creekc1405

trickc1412

trayc1430

lirtc1440

quaint?a1450

touch1481

pawka1522

false point?1528

practice1533

crink1534

flim-flamc1538

bobc1540

fetcha1547

abuse1551

block1553

wrinklec1555

far-fetch?a1562

blirre1570

slampant1577

ruse1581

forgery1582

crank1588

plait1589

crossbite1591

cozenage1592

lock1598

quiblin1605

foist1607

junt1608

firk1611

overreach?1615

fob1622

ludification1623

knick-knacka1625

flam1632

dodge1638

gimcrack1639

fourbe1654

juggle1664

strategy1672

jilt1683

disingenuity1691

fun1699

jugglementa1708

spring1753

shavie1767

rig?1775

deception1794

Yorkshire bite1795

fakement1811

fake1829

practical1833

deceptivity1843

tread-behind1844

fly1861

schlenter1864

Sinonism1864

racket1869

have1885

ficelle1890

wheeze1903

fast one1912

roughie1914

spun-yarn trick1916

fastie1931

phoney baloney1933

fake-out1955

okey-doke1964

mind-fuck1971

c1390 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 4283 Men dreme alday of owles and of apes And of many a maze.

a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 468 Al this nas but a maze.

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. 2559 Al was doon for an ydel maze.

c1500 King & Hermit in M. M. Furrow Ten 15th-cent. Comic Poems (1985) 264 Hopys þou I wold for a mase Stond in þe myre þer?

a. A state of bewilderment; a feeling of amazement or perplexity; (in plural) confused or puzzled thoughts. Now chiefly in in a maze.In early examples it is uncertain whether a maze or amaze (amaze n.) is intended.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > [noun] > state of wonder

wonderc1290

ecstasyc1384

mazednessc1395

study?1397

mazec1425

wonderfulness1532

wonderment1535

gape1712

astoundment1810

marvelment1823

jouissance1968

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 1338 To gape & to loke, as it wer on a mase.

1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale sig. G.ij^v Orels leue the reder as yt were in hys Maze.

1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1775/2 The maze was such, that besides his sonne maister Arthure Gray..not a manne else did follow him.

1595 Blanchardine & Eglantine ii. xiii. sig. K2 ^v The faire Beautrix..stood in a maze.

1631 T. Heywood Fair Maid of West: 2nd Pt. iii. sig. F2 Six, to the maze Of all the rest, were slain.

1653 Cloria & Narcissus 274 Admiration stands at a maze.

1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding §20. 302 At this I was put to an exceeding Maze.

1722 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers iv. 147 That he came to a perfect Recovery from his having been in a Maze seems to appear plainly.

1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 136 [He] up the street Rade on—in mickle maze I ween, For fient ae face was to be seen.

1835 D. Webster Orig. Sc. Rhymes 29 In midst o' my mazes reflection unkind, Shew'd the form of a faithless young fair in my mind.

1899 A. L. Salmon West-Country Ballads & Verses 60 My mind is kind of in a maze.

1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers xii. 332 In a maze, he wandered out for a drink.

1935 L. Mann Human Drift xiii. 103 What madness was in her! She had come here in a maze, without thinking and now she wanted only to turn and run.

1996 T. P. Dolan & D. Ó Muirithe Dial. Forth & Bargy 27 Maze, amazement.

†b. Used by Scott for: a confusing haze. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [noun] > haze

haze1582

oama1728

mist1785

maze1813

dry urea1824

gauze1842

blight1848

slur1880

1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain Concl. i. 200 When a pilgrim strays, In morning mist or evening maze, Along the mountain lone.

II. A labyrinth, and related senses.

a. A structure designed as a puzzle, consisting of a complicated network of winding and interconnecting paths or passages, only one of which is the correct route through; a labyrinth; (occasionally in plural) the windings of a labyrinth. Also (as in quot. 1903): a structure comprising two points joined by a single winding line much greater in length than the direct line between the two points.Large-scale recreational mazes have traditionally been constructed from hedges. More recently, mazes have been used as tools to study human and animal learning and intelligence.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [noun] > winding curve(s) > thing having > a maze or labyrinth

mazec1430

mizmaze1547

labyrinth1577

turnabouta1603

meander1603

Daedal1699

dédale1916

the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > test of mental ability > [noun] > maze as test

maze1901

c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 2014 The hous is krynkeled to and fro, And hath so queynte weyes for to go For it is shapen as the mase is wrought.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 311 In that yle is also oon of the iiij mases [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. laborintus].

a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) ii. xviii. sig. L.vi Thei walke round about, as it were in a round mase.

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 66 Roses growyng in borders, and made in a maze.

1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 99 The queint Mazes, in the wanton greene, For lacke of tread, are vndistinguishable.

1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 104 There doth grow, A groue of fatall Elmes, wherein a maze, Or labyrinth is fram'd.

1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 27 Such arduous toil sage Daedalus endur'd, In mazes self-invented long immur'd.

1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. v. 133 He vanquished the monster of the labyrinth, and retraced its mazes.

1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 146 The gordian knot was all very well in its way: so was the maze of Hampton Court: so is the maze at the Beulah Spa.

1901 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 12 228 The process of learning the way through this maze is adequately described as a gradual establishment of direct associations by profiting by chance experience.

1903 G. E. Jeans Murray's Handbk. Lincs. (new ed.) 222 A maze, called Julian's Bower, is cut in the grassy brow of the cliff.

1955 J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man xx. 229 Hundred acres of it. Boxwood mazes for me to get lost in.

1989 Weekend Tel. 20 May p. ix/5 I headed for the maze laid out in 1983 to the prize-winning design of Ian Leitch.

b. In extended use: a complex network of paths or streets; a bewildering mass of things (material or immaterial), in which the individual components are difficult to separate or make out.In the 16th and 17th centuries often in to tread a maze, perhaps with allusion to sense 5.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > entanglement or entangled state > complication or complexity > [noun] > a complicated state of affairs

labyrinthc1450

proplexity1487

maze1531

perplexity1563

intricacy1611

intrigo1648

intrigue1660

intricoa1670

wheels within wheels1679

imbroglio1818

involvement1821

scrimmage1852

situation1954

1531 W. Tyndale Expos. Fyrste Epist. St. Jhon Prol. sig. Aiiij^v The scripture..is become a maze unto them, in which they wandre as in a myst.

1542 H. Brinkelow Lamentacion sig. Cviii Leadyng them in an endlesse Maze of dyrtye tradicyons and folish ceremonyes.

1578 Christian Prayers 17 To the intent we should not wander any longer vp and down in the mazes of this world.

1596 L. Keymis Relation 2nd Voy. Guiana sig. G4 In the discouerie of Guiana, you may read both of Oreliano..and of Berreo, with others that haue trode this maze, and lost them selues in seeking to find this countrie.

1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Mm1 The trauaile therein taken, seemeth to haue ben rather in a Maze, then in a way.

1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 15 The Labyrinthæan Mazes and web of the small arteries.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. x. 42 To lose us in this maze of error.

1781 G. Crabbe Library 9 Whether 'tis yours to lead the willing mind Through History's mazes, and the turnings find.

1837 B. Disraeli Venetia II. 124 They were lost in a delicious maze of metaphor and music.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 347 Bath was..a maze of only four or five hundred houses.

1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton vi. 74 A tangled maze of bracken and briar.

1946 E. Muir Voyage 9 The endless trap lay everywhere, And all the roads ran in a maze Hither and thither, like a web.

1952 P. Bowles Let it come Down xiii. 140 From a maze of inner streets he came out upon the principal thoroughfare.

1994 Pop. Sci. Mar. 42/1 Banking by phone has become synonymous with fumbling your way through a maze of push-button choices.

5. A winding or intricate movement, as in a dance. Also in plural: the characteristic twisting movements of a hare.Quot. 1598 refers to the circular movement of a horse pulling round a capstan to turn a mill; cf. miller's round n. at miller n.¹ Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > [noun] > indirectness of course > moving in winding course > instance of or a winding course

windinga1387

anfractus?a1425

ambage1537

crank1572

error1594

indenture1598

maze1598

meander1631

circumvolution1633

anfracture1657

1598 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 3 Last Bks. iv. iii. 25 Some of thy Stallion-race, Their eyes boar'd out, masking the Millers-maze.

1610 Histrio-mastix iii. 232 The world doth turn a maze in giddy round.

a1637 B. Jonson Vision of Delight 224 in Wks. (1640) III In curious knots and mazes so The Spring at first was taught to go.

1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 6 To Plains with well-breath'd Beagles we repair, And trace the Mazes of the circling Hare.

1745 E. Young Consolation 2 Dancing, with the rest, the giddy Maze, Where Disappointment smiles at Hope's Career.

1834 Pearl & Lit. Gaz. 2 Aug. 209/3 Their faces glowing with the exercise they had just taken in springing ‘the light fantastic toe’ to the music of the son of Crispin, through the winding mazes of a ‘four reel’.

1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 65/1 The whirling of a top, when it is so swift as to escape the eye, and the top seems motionless, is called by boys a maze.

1972 G. E. Evans & D. Thomson Leaping Hare xv. 207 The hare's mazes, its purposeful twistings and turnings, have been much admired.

†6. Probably: a complex, plaited hairstyle. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > tresses or plaits

tracec1380

plight?1387

tressa1400

plexc1450

braid1530

tuck1532

buoy-rope1546

trammels1589

entrammelling1598

border1601

point1604

pleat?1606

trammelets1654

maze1657

brede1696

queue1724

pigtail?1725

tie1725

cue1731

tuck-up1749

tutulus1753

club1786

tail1799

French twist1850

Grecian plait1851

French plait1871

horse's tail1873

Gretchen braid, plait1890

shimada1910

ponytail1916

French braid1937

cane row1939

dreadlocks1960

French pleat1964

Tom Jones1964

corn row1971

dread1984

club-pigtail-

1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 16 Their haire not shorne..close to their heads; nor in quarters, and mases.

Compounds

C1.

maze game n. any of various games (now usually played on a computer), requiring the player to negotiate a maze; also figurative.

ΚΠ

1967 Amer. Lit. 38 577 Our culture had been trapped in the maze-game of what-do-you-like.

1985 Eng. Today Apr. 29/1 Maze games are now a generic type, to be contrasted with cockpit games, invader games, gobbling games and other species.

1991 ACE Feb. 64/1 An overhead maze game—just you, lots of locked doors and hidden keys, and literally hundreds of hungry ‘things’.

Maze-Monday n. English regional (Cornwall) now historical the Monday after pay day at a mine (see quot. 1903).

ΚΠ

1888 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 51 530 (note) Two strikes at the Devon Great Consols Mine, one in resistance..to the reintroduction of the five-weekly..month..and the other in opposition to the abolition of ‘Maze-Monday,’ as the Monday following the pay-day was termed.

1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 65/1 [Cornwall] Maze-Monday,..taken as a holiday, but on which a man will do his ‘little churs’ at home.

† Maze-Sunday n. English regional (Devon) Obsolete rare a particular Sunday set apart for feasting.

ΚΠ

1700 Let. 8 Apr. in T. Brown 3rd Vol. Wks. (1708) ii. 102 I arriv'd at Exon... The next Day being Sunday, call'd by the Natives of this Country Maze-Sunday, (and indeed not without some Reason, for the People look'd as if they were gallied) I was wak'd by [etc.].

C2. attributive. Psychology. With reference to the use of mazes in the study of intelligence, as maze test, etc.; also maze-running, maze-learning adjs.

ΚΠ

1921 Lancet 19 Mar. 597/2 The..Porteous maze tests which, testing as they do the foresight, the capacity to plan, the practical judgment and concentration of the child, supply a marked lack of the Binet scale.

1940 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Jan. 191 Many maze workers have noted the fact of variability in performance from day to day.

1958 Spectator 8 Aug. 201/1 The obsessional maze-running experiments of the American rat-psychologists.

1992 S. Rose Making of Memory (BNC) 230 This effect had been shown previously with more traditional maze-learning tasks.

Derivatives

ˈmazelike adj. and adv.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [adjective] > having many or winding curves > like a maze or labyrinth

forwrinked14..

mazy1579

coney-vaulted1585

labyrinthian1588

mazelike1596

labyrinth-like1601

Daedalian1607

labyrinthine1632

cuniculous1634

labyrinthed1641

labyrinthala1661

labyrinthiform1805

daedal1818

meandriform1857

mazed1920

1596 A. Copley Fig for Fortune 62 Amid these trees, these fruites, these flowerie sweetes Ran in a Maze-like wile a chrystall streame.

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 494 The Maze-like Meane, that turnes and wends so faire.

1868 E. Atherstone Fall of Nineveh (ed. 2) II. xxi. 177 Dara, with hand untiring, from the harp Called breathing tones, and maze-like harmonies.

a1894 W. Pater Gaston de Latour (1896) ii. 35 Its maze-like crypt, centering in the shrine of the sibylline Notre-Dame.

1904 Westm. Gaz. 15 Mar. 1/3 I looked down on to rows of clipped, regular, hornbeam hedges, with grass paths between them, maze-like.

1979 Dædalus Summer 12 More impressive..is the endemic and systematic character of public hypocrisy and its mazelike inescapability.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† mazen.²

Forms: late Middle English mace, 1500s–1700s maze, 1600s meaze (probably transmission error).

Origin: Of uncertain origin. Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: meuse n.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; probably (although attested slightly earlier) either an error (taken up by later writers) for, or an unexplained variant of, meuse n.

Obsolete. rare.

The form (form n. 21a) of a hare; = meuse n. 2.In quot. 1590 probably with allusion to a common proverb. Cf. meuse n. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Lepus (hares) > lepus europaeus (hare) > lair or breeding place

formc1290

maze1486

meuse1585

squat1590

muset1594

stool1607

hare-warren1647

seat1735

1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. evj And any hounde fynd or musyng [perh. read o'ermusyng] of hir mace Ther as she [sc. the hare] hath byne and is goon owt of that place.

1590 T. Lodge Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie f. 49^v Aliena seeing the hare through the maze, bade her forwarde with her prattle.

1606 Returne from Pernassus ii. v. 791 A Hare that we found this morning musing on her meaze [MS Maze].

a1740 T. Tickell Fragm. on Hunting in Poet. Wks. (1781) 41 How every nerve the greyhound's stretch displays, The hare preventing in her airy maze.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

mazeadj.

Brit.

/meɪz/, U.S.

/meɪz/

Origin: Either (i) formed within English, by conversion. Or (ii) formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: maze v.; mazed adj.

Etymology: Either < maze v., or shortened < mazed adj.

English regional (south-western).

Stupefied, dazed; crazy, berserk; bewildered, confused. Cf. mazed adj.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > [adjective]

yblenta1225

amazed?c1225

wory?c1225

mingedc1275

willc1300

distracta1340

confounded1362

confuse1362

distraitc1374

whapedc1374

wilsomea1375

poseletc1390

distraught1393

perplexa1425

wildc1440

wiltc1440

dodemusydc1450

mistedc1450

unclearc1475

mazed1493

perplexeda1500

traversablea1500

mazyc1525

entangled1561

muddy?1571

distraughted1572

moidered1587

wondering1592

puzzled1598

plundered1601

distracted1604

uncollected1613

wildered1642

turbid1647

tosticated1650

fuddled1656

pixie-led1659

puzzling1692

bumbazed1720

maffled1820

obfuscated1822

confused1825

muddly1829

mystified1833

maze1842

obfusticatedc1844

head-scratching1849

clueless1862

flustery1862

befogged1868

deurmekaar1871

mosy1887

skewgee1890

buggered-up1893

confusticated1898

smock-ravelled1904

messed-up1913

screwed-up1943

hung up1945

lost1967

gravelled-

1842 H. J. Daniel Bride of Scio 177 You'll draive me maze!

1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) Her was screechin' an hollerin' same's a maze ummun.

1976 K. C. Phillipps Westcountry Words & Ways 77 There are two comparisons, ‘so maze as a sheep’ and ‘so maze as a curly’ (curlew), differentiating the stupid and the raving kinds of madness.

2004 E. Michael Beyond Pendowry Water xvi. 109 He's as maze as a coot.

This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

mazev.

Brit.

/meɪz/, U.S.

/meɪz/

Forms: Middle English mayze, Middle English–1500s (1800s– English regional (western)) mase, Middle English– maze, 1500s mayse, 1600s meaze; Scottish pre-1700 maise, pre-1700 mayse, pre-1700 mease, 1800s– maze.

Origin: Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: amaze v.

Etymology: Probably aphetic < amaze v.: see discussion s.v. maze n.¹ Compare slightly earlier mazed adj. and mazedly adv.

†1. intransitive. To be delirious or bewildered; to be distraught; to be unsettled or incoherent in one's mind. Obsolete.In quot. 1602 apparently: to gaze in amazement at.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (intransitive)] > be mentally prostrated or paralysed

mazea1375

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 438 A fers feintise folwes me & takes me so tenefully..þat i mase al marred.

c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 2387 Ye maze, maze, goode sire..This thank haue I for I haue maad yow se.

c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 148 (MED) Crewelle deth hath fro me raught..my lady..What shuld y do but mase in hevynes.

a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 67 All men may stand still to mase and muse vpon it.

1602 W. Basse Three Pastoral Elegies ii. sig. C3^v Mine earnest eies..wonder at another grace, That in hir necke and bosome was to view,..And while to maze at that I had desier, Contentles sight woo'd still be gasing hier.

2. transitive. To stupefy or daze; to befuddle; †to render crazed, distraught, or alarmed (obsolete). Usually in passive. Now chiefly archaic and regional (British and Newfoundland).

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (transitive)] > prostrate or paralyse mentally

amazeOE

mazec1390

the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (transitive)] > make drunk

fordrenchc1000

indrunkena1300

mazec1390

distemper1491

whittle1530

swill1548

inebriate1555

disguise1560

intoxicatea1566

tipple1566

overtake1577

betipple1581

seethe1599

fuddlec1600

fox1611

wound1613

cupa1616

fuzzle1621

to gild overa1625

sousea1625

tip1637

tosticate1650

drunkify1664

muddle1668

tipsy1673

sop1682

fuzz1685

confound1705

mellowa1761

prime1788

lush1821

soak1826

touch1833

rosin1877

befuddle1887

slew1888

lush1927

wipe1972

the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > dullness of sense perception > dull (the senses) [verb (transitive)] > stupefy

swevec725

amazeOE

mazec1390

dazea1400

fordulla1400

stupefy?a1425

dullc1440

entrance1569

damp1570

daunt1581

stupefact1583

trance1597

astound1600

mulla1616

doze1617

soporate1623

consopite1647

obstupefying1660

dozzlea1670

infatuate1712

smoor1718

silly1859

maizel1869

zombify1950

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > cause wonder, astonish [verb (transitive)] > stupefy

awhapec1300

stonyc1330

astony1340

astonec1374

mazec1390

stounda1400

stuna1400

to-stony?a1400

stounc1400

clumsec1440

overmusec1460

stonish1488

strike1533

dazzle1561

stoyne1563

stupefy1577

stupefact1583

obstupefy1611

astound1637

petrify1667

flabbergast1773

stagnatea1798

stama1800

swarf1813

boggle1835

razzle-dazzle1886

to knock sideways1890

stupend1900

gobsmack1987

the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > cause physical symptoms [verb (transitive)] > stupefy

awhapec1300

mazec1390

matea1400

stoynec1450

baze1603

stupefy1796

c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 526 She was so mazed in the see That she forgat hir mynde.

a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) lxxvii. 71 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 212 (MED) And wakened es lauerd als slepand, Als mased [L. crapulatus] of wine mightand.

a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) 27891 Be a man neuer so wise..And he be tane in dronkinhede, All his wittes..Er turned into ful simple state..Whare he by reson sold be rad, So es his minde mased and mad.

a1450 in R. Morris Legends Holy Rood (1871) 216 Oure lady..lay still doted and dased, As a womman mapped and mased.

c1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 322 My wit is al awaye..For now I pleyne, and now I pleye, I am so mased that I deye.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 633/2 You mased the boye so sore with beatyng that he coulde nat speake a worde.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 13280 Folis..Þat heron the melody [of the Sirens], so mekill are masit in hert, Lettyn sailis doun slyde.

1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. F.vii^v Gorgon..Who with her Beautie mazed men, And nowe doth raygne in Hell.

1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. B2 I am mad indeed, My hart is mazd, my senses all foredone.

1612 B. Jonson Alchemist v. v. sig. M3 Finding This tumult 'bout my dore (to tell you true) It somewhat mazd me.

1657 T. Manton Pract. Comm. Jude xvi. 477 This is the Devils device, first to maze people, (as birds are with a light and a bell in the night) and then to drive them into the net.

1716 B. Church Entertaining Passages Philip's War i. 5 The Pilot yet sat his Horse, tho' so maz'd with the Shot, as not to have sense to guide him.

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Milk Neither should the Milk-maid..affright the Cow or maze her.

1820 W. Scott Abbot II. iv. 117 ‘The lad is mazed!’ said the falconer to himself.

1855 A. Manning Old Chelsea Bun-house xiv. 232 My head was mazed with my journey.

1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers III. 100 If I could but think; but it's my head as is aching so; doctor, I wish yo'd go, for I need being alone, I'm so mazed.

1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. IV 295 Then said the King, ‘The man is mazed with fear’.

1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 24 Geographers, who say the world's a sphere, Are either ignorant, or mazed with beer.

1956 B. Chute Greenwillow xvii. 197 I was upside down in a spinney bush, and the light mazed me.

1971 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) 326/1 She often told us to stop rompsin' and roarin'. She would tell us, ‘You got me head mazed.’

3. transitive. To bewilder, perplex, confuse; to cause (a person) to wander in mind. Usually in passive (also reflexive). Now rare. Perhaps Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)]

abobc1330

confusec1350

confoundc1374

cumbera1375

passc1384

maskerc1400

mopc1425

enose1430

manga1450

overmusec1460

perplex1477

maze1482

enmuse1502

ruffle?a1505

unsteady1532

entangle1540

duddle1548

intricate1548

distraught1579

distract1582

mizzle1583

moider1587

amuse1595

mist1598

bepuzzle1599

gravel1601

plunder1601

puzzle1603

intrigue1612

vexa1613

metagrobolize?a1616

befumea1618

fuddle1617

crucify1621

bumfiddlea1625

implicate1625

giddify1628

wilder1642

buzzlea1644

empuzzle1646

dunce1649

addle1652

meander1652

emberlucock1653

flounder1654

study1654

disorient1655

embarrass?1656

essome1660

embrangle1664

jumble1668

dunt1672

muse1673

clutter1685

emblustricate1693

fluster1720

disorientate1728

obfuscate1729

fickle1736

flustrate1797

unharmonize1797

mystify1806

maffle1811

boggle1835

unballast1836

stomber1841

throw1844

serpentine1850

unbalance1856

tickle1865

fog1872

bumfuzzle1878

wander1897

to put off1909

defeat1914

dither1919

befuddle1926

ungear1931

to screw up1941

1482 W. Caxton Trevisa's Higden i. xxx. f. 40^v Who that gooth in to that hows [sc. a labyrinth] & wolde come out agayn..shal be so mased that out can he not goo.

1532 (a1475) Assembly of Ladies 38 in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 381 Other ther were, so mased in her mind, Al wayes [of a maze] were good for hem, bothe eest and west.

1627 W. Sclater Briefe Expos. 2 Thess. 73 We maze our selues sometimes in following Schoolemen.

1765 S. Johnson Pref. to Shakespear's Plays p. xii He who has mazed his imagination, in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him, may here be cured of his delirious exstasies.

1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen xvi. 218 A Protestant..finds himself a good deal ‘mazed’ when he first looks for the sacred sites.

1868 J. E. T. Rogers Man. Polit. Econ. Pref. p. v The historian who is ignorant of the interpretations of political economy is constantly mazed in a medley of unconnected and unintelligible facts.

4. intransitive. To move in a winding course; to wander as if in a maze. Also (occasionally) transitive with it. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > change direction of movement [verb (intransitive)] > move in winding course

to turn and winda1398

wreathea1500

twine1553

indent1567

virea1586

crank1594

to dance the hay or hays1600

maze1605

serpent1606

to indent the way1612

cringlea1629

indenture1631

circumgyre1634

twist1635

glomerate1638

winda1682

serpentine1767

meander1785

zigzag1787

zag1793

to worm one's way1822

vandyke1828

crankle1835

thread the needle1843

switchback1903

rattlesnake1961

zig1969

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 78 Like as moulten Lead being powred forth Vpon a leuell plot of sand or earth, In many fashions mazeth too and fro.

?1750 J. Langhorne Poems 44 Thus silver Wharf..Still, melancholy-mazing, seems to mourn.

1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality II. xi. 179 Walter led his..patron through this field and that field;..till, having mazed it and circled it for..three hours, he finally conducted the serjeant to the very gate at which he had first entered.

1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia V. xix. i. 411 They struck their tents everywhere;..and only went mazing hither and thither.

1874 Overland Monthly May 398 The approach of the long Summer which terminated the glacial epoch, found it [sc. the great south Lyell glacier] still mazing and swedging compliantly among the strong unflinching bosses.

5. transitive. To give a labyrinthine structure to; to form into a maze or maze-like structure. Now usually in passive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > cause to have series of curves [verb (transitive)] > involve in a maze or form mazes upon

maze1606

1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 29 Meander-like..Thou runn'st to meet thy Self's pure streams behind thee, Mazing the Meads where thou dost turn & winde-thee.

1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία To Author A iv Some maze their Thoughts in Labyrinths, and thus Invoke no Reader, but an Oedipus.

1874 Appletons' Jrnl. 4 July 22 They will cultivate the land by manual labor, instead of ‘huzzing and mazing the blessed fields with the devil's own team’.

1990 R. Rhodes Hole in World ii. v. 141 A big trolley barn mazed with overhead lines and tracks.

1994 Malahat Rev. Spring 10 Each region is mazed with hedges.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹c1300

n.²1486

adj.1842

v.a1375

单词	maze
释义	mazen.¹ Brit. /meɪz/, U.S. /meɪz/ Forms: Middle English masse, Middle English–1700s (1800s– English regional (western)) mase, Middle English– maze, 1700s– mize (Irish English). Origin: Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymons: English mæs, mase. Etymology: Probably the reflex of an unattested Old English noun mæs or mase, of which amasian amaze v. is a verbal derivative (it is possible that an unprefixed verb masian also existed; compare maze v.); further etymology uncertain.A group of North Germanic words have sometimes been regarded as perhaps cognate with this word: Norwegian mas* exhausting labour, nagging, (in archaic or regional use also whim, fancy, idle chatter), Danish mas trouble, bother, Swedish mas (archaic) sluggard; also Norwegian mase to bustle, fuss about, strive, slave away, reiterate, pester, beg, (reflexive) to wear oneself out, masast (regional or archaic) to start to dream, masog worn out, Danish mase to toil, Swedish masa to idle, dawdle, (reflexive, archaic) to bask, sun oneself. Slightly earlier currency in sense 4a is perhaps implied by a place name, the Mase (Southwark, Surrey; 1422; now Maze Court), which was formerly applied to the gardens and walks of the Abbot of Battle's riverside inn. I. A state of mental confusion, and related senses. †1. With the. [Compare the adj. 7a.] a. Delirium; delusion; disappointment. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > disappointment > [noun] mazec1300 discomfiturea1400 delusiona1513 disappointing1533 disappointment1577 disappoint1642 heart-scald1888 dust and ashes1902 the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > delirium or raving wood dreameOE mazec1300 paraphrenesisa1398 ravinga1398 deliramentc1450 idleness1535 delirium1563 randing1583 calenture1593 deliration1598 taveringa1599 ravery1599 delirement1613 debacchation1633 delirancy1645 deliry1657 deliriousness1671 paraphrenitis1683 paraphrosyne1684 deliracy1689 delirousness1694 paracope1749 paraphora1749 wandering1836 paralerema1848 paraleresis1857 paraphronesis1857 rambling1897 the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > fancy or fantastic notion > deceptive fancy or illusion > [noun] > delusive habit or state phantasma1250 mazec1300 fantasy1340 fancy1597 illusiveness1727 illusion1774 mythicalism1896 c1300 Judas Iscariot (Harl.) 14 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 107 Ȝe..hit is þe mase, and also hit wole gon. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6585 (MED) Wite..alle men..Þat it nis bote þe pure mase [v.r. masse] eni kinges poer. c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. 155 (MED) Heo ledeþ þe lawe as hire luste and loue-dayes makeþ, Þe Mase for a Mene mon, þauȝ he mote euere. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. Prol. 196 (MED) Better is a litel losse þan a longe sorwe, Þe mase amonge vs alle. b. Worldly, vain, or dissolute amusement or diversion. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1350 How Good Wife taught her Daughter (Emmanuel) (1948) 47 (MED) Go þou noȝt to toune, as it were a gase, Fram house to house to seken þe mase. c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. i. 6 (MED) Sest þou þis peple, How besy þei ben about þe mase? †2. A delusive fancy; a trick or deception. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > [noun] gleea700 playeOE gameeOE lakec1175 skentingc1175 wil-gomenc1275 solacec1290 deduit1297 envesurec1300 playingc1300 disport1303 spilea1325 laking1340 solacingc1384 bourdc1390 mazec1390 welfarea1400 recreationc1400 solancec1400 sporta1425 sportancea1450 sportingc1475 deport1477 recreancea1500 shurting15.. ebate?1518 recreating1538 abatementc1550 pleasuring1556 comfortmenta1558 disporting1561 pastiming1574 riec1576 joyance1595 spleen1598 merriment1600 amusement1603 amusing1603 entertainment1612 spleena1616 divertisement1651 diversion1653 disportment1660 sporting of nature1666 fun1726 délassement1804 gammock1841 pleasurement1843 dallying1889 rec1922 good, clean fun1923 cracka1966 looning1966 shoppertainment1993 the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > fancy or fantastic notion > deceptive fancy or illusion > [noun] fantasyc1325 fairyc1330 illusionc1374 mazec1390 phantasma1398 dream1489 phantom1557 seeming1576 phantasma1598 fancy1609 hallucinationa1652 phantastry1656 phasm1659 fata Morgana1818 dreamland1832 stardust1906 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > [noun] > a trick, deception wrenchc888 swikec893 braida1000 craftOE wile1154 crookc1175 trokingc1175 guile?c1225 hocket1276 blink1303 errorc1320 guileryc1330 sleightc1340 knackc1369 deceitc1380 japec1380 gaudc1386 syllogism1387 mazec1390 mowa1393 train?a1400 trantc1400 abusionc1405 creekc1405 trickc1412 trayc1430 lirtc1440 quaint?a1450 touch1481 pawka1522 false point?1528 practice1533 crink1534 flim-flamc1538 bobc1540 fetcha1547 abuse1551 block1553 wrinklec1555 far-fetch?a1562 blirre1570 slampant1577 ruse1581 forgery1582 crank1588 plait1589 crossbite1591 cozenage1592 lock1598 quiblin1605 foist1607 junt1608 firk1611 overreach?1615 fob1622 ludification1623 knick-knacka1625 flam1632 dodge1638 gimcrack1639 fourbe1654 juggle1664 strategy1672 jilt1683 disingenuity1691 fun1699 jugglementa1708 spring1753 shavie1767 rig?1775 deception1794 Yorkshire bite1795 fakement1811 fake1829 practical1833 deceptivity1843 tread-behind1844 fly1861 schlenter1864 Sinonism1864 racket1869 have1885 ficelle1890 wheeze1903 fast one1912 roughie1914 spun-yarn trick1916 fastie1931 phoney baloney1933 fake-out1955 okey-doke1964 mind-fuck1971 c1390 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 4283 Men dreme alday of owles and of apes And of many a maze. a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) v. 468 Al this nas but a maze. c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. 2559 Al was doon for an ydel maze. c1500 King & Hermit in M. M. Furrow Ten 15th-cent. Comic Poems (1985) 264 Hopys þou I wold for a mase Stond in þe myre þer? 3. a. A state of bewilderment; a feeling of amazement or perplexity; (in plural) confused or puzzled thoughts. Now chiefly in in a maze.In early examples it is uncertain whether a maze or amaze (amaze n.) is intended. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > [noun] > state of wonder wonderc1290 ecstasyc1384 mazednessc1395 study?1397 mazec1425 wonderfulness1532 wonderment1535 gape1712 astoundment1810 marvelment1823 jouissance1968 c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 1338 To gape & to loke, as it wer on a mase. 1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale sig. G.ij^v Orels leue the reder as yt were in hys Maze. 1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1775/2 The maze was such, that besides his sonne maister Arthure Gray..not a manne else did follow him. 1595 Blanchardine & Eglantine ii. xiii. sig. K2 ^v The faire Beautrix..stood in a maze. 1631 T. Heywood Fair Maid of West: 2nd Pt. iii. sig. F2 Six, to the maze Of all the rest, were slain. 1653 Cloria & Narcissus 274 Admiration stands at a maze. 1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding §20. 302 At this I was put to an exceeding Maze. 1722 W. Sewel Hist. Quakers iv. 147 That he came to a perfect Recovery from his having been in a Maze seems to appear plainly. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 136 [He] up the street Rade on—in mickle maze I ween, For fient ae face was to be seen. 1835 D. Webster Orig. Sc. Rhymes 29 In midst o' my mazes reflection unkind, Shew'd the form of a faithless young fair in my mind. 1899 A. L. Salmon West-Country Ballads & Verses 60 My mind is kind of in a maze. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers xii. 332 In a maze, he wandered out for a drink. 1935 L. Mann Human Drift xiii. 103 What madness was in her! She had come here in a maze, without thinking and now she wanted only to turn and run. 1996 T. P. Dolan & D. Ó Muirithe Dial. Forth & Bargy 27 Maze, amazement. †b. Used by Scott for: a confusing haze. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [noun] > haze haze1582 oama1728 mist1785 maze1813 dry urea1824 gauze1842 blight1848 slur1880 1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain Concl. i. 200 When a pilgrim strays, In morning mist or evening maze, Along the mountain lone. II. A labyrinth, and related senses. 4. a. A structure designed as a puzzle, consisting of a complicated network of winding and interconnecting paths or passages, only one of which is the correct route through; a labyrinth; (occasionally in plural) the windings of a labyrinth. Also (as in quot. 1903): a structure comprising two points joined by a single winding line much greater in length than the direct line between the two points.Large-scale recreational mazes have traditionally been constructed from hedges. More recently, mazes have been used as tools to study human and animal learning and intelligence. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [noun] > winding curve(s) > thing having > a maze or labyrinth mazec1430 mizmaze1547 labyrinth1577 turnabouta1603 meander1603 Daedal1699 dédale1916 the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > test of mental ability > [noun] > maze as test maze1901 c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 2014 The hous is krynkeled to and fro, And hath so queynte weyes for to go For it is shapen as the mase is wrought. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 311 In that yle is also oon of the iiij mases [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. laborintus]. a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) ii. xviii. sig. L.vi Thei walke round about, as it were in a round mase. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 66 Roses growyng in borders, and made in a maze. 1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 99 The queint Mazes, in the wanton greene, For lacke of tread, are vndistinguishable. View more context for this quotation 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 104 There doth grow, A groue of fatall Elmes, wherein a maze, Or labyrinth is fram'd. 1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 27 Such arduous toil sage Daedalus endur'd, In mazes self-invented long immur'd. 1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. v. 133 He vanquished the monster of the labyrinth, and retraced its mazes. 1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 146 The gordian knot was all very well in its way: so was the maze of Hampton Court: so is the maze at the Beulah Spa. 1901 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 12 228 The process of learning the way through this maze is adequately described as a gradual establishment of direct associations by profiting by chance experience. 1903 G. E. Jeans Murray's Handbk. Lincs. (new ed.) 222 A maze, called Julian's Bower, is cut in the grassy brow of the cliff. 1955 J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man xx. 229 Hundred acres of it. Boxwood mazes for me to get lost in. 1989 Weekend Tel. 20 May p. ix/5 I headed for the maze laid out in 1983 to the prize-winning design of Ian Leitch. b. In extended use: a complex network of paths or streets; a bewildering mass of things (material or immaterial), in which the individual components are difficult to separate or make out.In the 16th and 17th centuries often in to tread a maze, perhaps with allusion to sense 5. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > entanglement or entangled state > complication or complexity > [noun] > a complicated state of affairs labyrinthc1450 proplexity1487 maze1531 perplexity1563 intricacy1611 intrigo1648 intrigue1660 intricoa1670 wheels within wheels1679 imbroglio1818 involvement1821 scrimmage1852 situation1954 1531 W. Tyndale Expos. Fyrste Epist. St. Jhon Prol. sig. Aiiij^v The scripture..is become a maze unto them, in which they wandre as in a myst. 1542 H. Brinkelow Lamentacion sig. Cviii Leadyng them in an endlesse Maze of dyrtye tradicyons and folish ceremonyes. 1578 Christian Prayers 17 To the intent we should not wander any longer vp and down in the mazes of this world. 1596 L. Keymis Relation 2nd Voy. Guiana sig. G4 In the discouerie of Guiana, you may read both of Oreliano..and of Berreo, with others that haue trode this maze, and lost them selues in seeking to find this countrie. 1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Mm1 The trauaile therein taken, seemeth to haue ben rather in a Maze, then in a way. View more context for this quotation 1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 15 The Labyrinthæan Mazes and web of the small arteries. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. x. 42 To lose us in this maze of error. View more context for this quotation 1781 G. Crabbe Library 9 Whether 'tis yours to lead the willing mind Through History's mazes, and the turnings find. 1837 B. Disraeli Venetia II. 124 They were lost in a delicious maze of metaphor and music. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 347 Bath was..a maze of only four or five hundred houses. 1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton vi. 74 A tangled maze of bracken and briar. 1946 E. Muir Voyage 9 The endless trap lay everywhere, And all the roads ran in a maze Hither and thither, like a web. 1952 P. Bowles Let it come Down xiii. 140 From a maze of inner streets he came out upon the principal thoroughfare. 1994 Pop. Sci. Mar. 42/1 Banking by phone has become synonymous with fumbling your way through a maze of push-button choices. 5. A winding or intricate movement, as in a dance. Also in plural: the characteristic twisting movements of a hare.Quot. 1598 refers to the circular movement of a horse pulling round a capstan to turn a mill; cf. miller's round n. at miller n.¹ Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > [noun] > indirectness of course > moving in winding course > instance of or a winding course windinga1387 anfractus?a1425 ambage1537 crank1572 error1594 indenture1598 maze1598 meander1631 circumvolution1633 anfracture1657 1598 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 3 Last Bks. iv. iii. 25 Some of thy Stallion-race, Their eyes boar'd out, masking the Millers-maze. 1610 Histrio-mastix iii. 232 The world doth turn a maze in giddy round. a1637 B. Jonson Vision of Delight 224 in Wks. (1640) III In curious knots and mazes so The Spring at first was taught to go. 1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 6 To Plains with well-breath'd Beagles we repair, And trace the Mazes of the circling Hare. 1745 E. Young Consolation 2 Dancing, with the rest, the giddy Maze, Where Disappointment smiles at Hope's Career. 1834 Pearl & Lit. Gaz. 2 Aug. 209/3 Their faces glowing with the exercise they had just taken in springing ‘the light fantastic toe’ to the music of the son of Crispin, through the winding mazes of a ‘four reel’. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 65/1 The whirling of a top, when it is so swift as to escape the eye, and the top seems motionless, is called by boys a maze. 1972 G. E. Evans & D. Thomson Leaping Hare xv. 207 The hare's mazes, its purposeful twistings and turnings, have been much admired. †6. Probably: a complex, plaited hairstyle. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > tresses or plaits tracec1380 plight?1387 tressa1400 plexc1450 braid1530 tuck1532 buoy-rope1546 trammels1589 entrammelling1598 border1601 point1604 pleat?1606 trammelets1654 maze1657 brede1696 queue1724 pigtail?1725 tie1725 cue1731 tuck-up1749 tutulus1753 club1786 tail1799 French twist1850 Grecian plait1851 French plait1871 horse's tail1873 Gretchen braid, plait1890 shimada1910 ponytail1916 French braid1937 cane row1939 dreadlocks1960 French pleat1964 Tom Jones1964 corn row1971 dread1984 club-pigtail- 1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 16 Their haire not shorne..close to their heads; nor in quarters, and mases. Compounds C1. maze game n. any of various games (now usually played on a computer), requiring the player to negotiate a maze; also figurative. ΚΠ 1967 Amer. Lit. 38 577 Our culture had been trapped in the maze-game of what-do-you-like. 1985 Eng. Today Apr. 29/1 Maze games are now a generic type, to be contrasted with cockpit games, invader games, gobbling games and other species. 1991 ACE Feb. 64/1 An overhead maze game—just you, lots of locked doors and hidden keys, and literally hundreds of hungry ‘things’. Maze-Monday n. English regional (Cornwall) now historical the Monday after pay day at a mine (see quot. 1903). ΚΠ 1888 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 51 530 (note) Two strikes at the Devon Great Consols Mine, one in resistance..to the reintroduction of the five-weekly..month..and the other in opposition to the abolition of ‘Maze-Monday,’ as the Monday following the pay-day was termed. 1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 65/1 [Cornwall] Maze-Monday,..taken as a holiday, but on which a man will do his ‘little churs’ at home. † Maze-Sunday n. English regional (Devon) Obsolete rare a particular Sunday set apart for feasting. ΚΠ 1700 Let. 8 Apr. in T. Brown 3rd Vol. Wks. (1708) ii. 102 I arriv'd at Exon... The next Day being Sunday, call'd by the Natives of this Country Maze-Sunday, (and indeed not without some Reason, for the People look'd as if they were gallied) I was wak'd by [etc.]. C2. attributive. Psychology. With reference to the use of mazes in the study of intelligence, as maze test, etc.; also maze-running, maze-learning adjs. ΚΠ 1921 Lancet 19 Mar. 597/2 The..Porteous maze tests which, testing as they do the foresight, the capacity to plan, the practical judgment and concentration of the child, supply a marked lack of the Binet scale. 1940 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Jan. 191 Many maze workers have noted the fact of variability in performance from day to day. 1958 Spectator 8 Aug. 201/1 The obsessional maze-running experiments of the American rat-psychologists. 1992 S. Rose Making of Memory (BNC) 230 This effect had been shown previously with more traditional maze-learning tasks. Derivatives ˈmazelike adj. and adv. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [adjective] > having many or winding curves > like a maze or labyrinth forwrinked14.. mazy1579 coney-vaulted1585 labyrinthian1588 mazelike1596 labyrinth-like1601 Daedalian1607 labyrinthine1632 cuniculous1634 labyrinthed1641 labyrinthala1661 labyrinthiform1805 daedal1818 meandriform1857 mazed1920 1596 A. Copley Fig for Fortune 62 Amid these trees, these fruites, these flowerie sweetes Ran in a Maze-like wile a chrystall streame. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 494 The Maze-like Meane, that turnes and wends so faire. 1868 E. Atherstone Fall of Nineveh (ed. 2) II. xxi. 177 Dara, with hand untiring, from the harp Called breathing tones, and maze-like harmonies. a1894 W. Pater Gaston de Latour (1896) ii. 35 Its maze-like crypt, centering in the shrine of the sibylline Notre-Dame. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 15 Mar. 1/3 I looked down on to rows of clipped, regular, hornbeam hedges, with grass paths between them, maze-like. 1979 Dædalus Summer 12 More impressive..is the endemic and systematic character of public hypocrisy and its mazelike inescapability. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † mazen.² Forms: late Middle English mace, 1500s–1700s maze, 1600s meaze (probably transmission error). Origin: Of uncertain origin. Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: meuse n. Etymology: Origin uncertain; probably (although attested slightly earlier) either an error (taken up by later writers) for, or an unexplained variant of, meuse n. Obsolete. rare. The form (form n. 21a) of a hare; = meuse n. 2.In quot. 1590 probably with allusion to a common proverb. Cf. meuse n. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Lepus (hares) > lepus europaeus (hare) > lair or breeding place formc1290 maze1486 meuse1585 squat1590 muset1594 stool1607 hare-warren1647 seat1735 1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. evj And any hounde fynd or musyng [perh. read o'ermusyng] of hir mace Ther as she [sc. the hare] hath byne and is goon owt of that place. 1590 T. Lodge Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie f. 49^v Aliena seeing the hare through the maze, bade her forwarde with her prattle. 1606 Returne from Pernassus ii. v. 791 A Hare that we found this morning musing on her meaze [MS Maze]. a1740 T. Tickell Fragm. on Hunting in Poet. Wks. (1781) 41 How every nerve the greyhound's stretch displays, The hare preventing in her airy maze. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022). mazeadj. Brit. /meɪz/, U.S. /meɪz/ Origin: Either (i) formed within English, by conversion. Or (ii) formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: maze v.; mazed adj. Etymology: Either < maze v., or shortened < mazed adj. English regional (south-western). Stupefied, dazed; crazy, berserk; bewildered, confused. Cf. mazed adj. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > [adjective] yblenta1225 amazed?c1225 wory?c1225 mingedc1275 willc1300 distracta1340 confounded1362 confuse1362 distraitc1374 whapedc1374 wilsomea1375 poseletc1390 distraught1393 perplexa1425 wildc1440 wiltc1440 dodemusydc1450 mistedc1450 unclearc1475 mazed1493 perplexeda1500 traversablea1500 mazyc1525 entangled1561 muddy?1571 distraughted1572 moidered1587 wondering1592 puzzled1598 plundered1601 distracted1604 uncollected1613 wildered1642 turbid1647 tosticated1650 fuddled1656 pixie-led1659 puzzling1692 bumbazed1720 maffled1820 obfuscated1822 confused1825 muddly1829 mystified1833 maze1842 obfusticatedc1844 head-scratching1849 clueless1862 flustery1862 befogged1868 deurmekaar1871 mosy1887 skewgee1890 buggered-up1893 confusticated1898 smock-ravelled1904 messed-up1913 screwed-up1943 hung up1945 lost1967 gravelled- 1842 H. J. Daniel Bride of Scio 177 You'll draive me maze! 1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) Her was screechin' an hollerin' same's a maze ummun. 1976 K. C. Phillipps Westcountry Words & Ways 77 There are two comparisons, ‘so maze as a sheep’ and ‘so maze as a curly’ (curlew), differentiating the stupid and the raving kinds of madness. 2004 E. Michael Beyond Pendowry Water xvi. 109 He's as maze as a coot. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022). mazev. Brit. /meɪz/, U.S. /meɪz/ Forms: Middle English mayze, Middle English–1500s (1800s– English regional (western)) mase, Middle English– maze, 1500s mayse, 1600s meaze; Scottish pre-1700 maise, pre-1700 mayse, pre-1700 mease, 1800s– maze. Origin: Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: amaze v. Etymology: Probably aphetic < amaze v.: see discussion s.v. maze n.¹ Compare slightly earlier mazed adj. and mazedly adv. †1. intransitive. To be delirious or bewildered; to be distraught; to be unsettled or incoherent in one's mind. Obsolete.In quot. 1602 apparently: to gaze in amazement at. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (intransitive)] > be mentally prostrated or paralysed mazea1375 a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 438 A fers feintise folwes me & takes me so tenefully..þat i mase al marred. c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 2387 Ye maze, maze, goode sire..This thank haue I for I haue maad yow se. c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 148 (MED) Crewelle deth hath fro me raught..my lady..What shuld y do but mase in hevynes. a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 67 All men may stand still to mase and muse vpon it. 1602 W. Basse Three Pastoral Elegies ii. sig. C3^v Mine earnest eies..wonder at another grace, That in hir necke and bosome was to view,..And while to maze at that I had desier, Contentles sight woo'd still be gasing hier. 2. transitive. To stupefy or daze; to befuddle; †to render crazed, distraught, or alarmed (obsolete). Usually in passive. Now chiefly archaic and regional (British and Newfoundland). ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (transitive)] > prostrate or paralyse mentally amazeOE mazec1390 the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (transitive)] > make drunk fordrenchc1000 indrunkena1300 mazec1390 distemper1491 whittle1530 swill1548 inebriate1555 disguise1560 intoxicatea1566 tipple1566 overtake1577 betipple1581 seethe1599 fuddlec1600 fox1611 wound1613 cupa1616 fuzzle1621 to gild overa1625 sousea1625 tip1637 tosticate1650 drunkify1664 muddle1668 tipsy1673 sop1682 fuzz1685 confound1705 mellowa1761 prime1788 lush1821 soak1826 touch1833 rosin1877 befuddle1887 slew1888 lush1927 wipe1972 the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > dullness of sense perception > dull (the senses) [verb (transitive)] > stupefy swevec725 amazeOE mazec1390 dazea1400 fordulla1400 stupefy?a1425 dullc1440 entrance1569 damp1570 daunt1581 stupefact1583 trance1597 astound1600 mulla1616 doze1617 soporate1623 consopite1647 obstupefying1660 dozzlea1670 infatuate1712 smoor1718 silly1859 maizel1869 zombify1950 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > cause wonder, astonish [verb (transitive)] > stupefy awhapec1300 stonyc1330 astony1340 astonec1374 mazec1390 stounda1400 stuna1400 to-stony?a1400 stounc1400 clumsec1440 overmusec1460 stonish1488 strike1533 dazzle1561 stoyne1563 stupefy1577 stupefact1583 obstupefy1611 astound1637 petrify1667 flabbergast1773 stagnatea1798 stama1800 swarf1813 boggle1835 razzle-dazzle1886 to knock sideways1890 stupend1900 gobsmack1987 the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > cause physical symptoms [verb (transitive)] > stupefy awhapec1300 mazec1390 matea1400 stoynec1450 baze1603 stupefy1796 c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 526 She was so mazed in the see That she forgat hir mynde. a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) lxxvii. 71 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 212 (MED) And wakened es lauerd als slepand, Als mased [L. crapulatus] of wine mightand. a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) 27891 Be a man neuer so wise..And he be tane in dronkinhede, All his wittes..Er turned into ful simple state..Whare he by reson sold be rad, So es his minde mased and mad. a1450 in R. Morris Legends Holy Rood (1871) 216 Oure lady..lay still doted and dased, As a womman mapped and mased. c1450 (c1375) G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 322 My wit is al awaye..For now I pleyne, and now I pleye, I am so mased that I deye. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 633/2 You mased the boye so sore with beatyng that he coulde nat speake a worde. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 13280 Folis..Þat heron the melody [of the Sirens], so mekill are masit in hert, Lettyn sailis doun slyde. 1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. F.vii^v Gorgon..Who with her Beautie mazed men, And nowe doth raygne in Hell. 1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. B2 I am mad indeed, My hart is mazd, my senses all foredone. 1612 B. Jonson Alchemist v. v. sig. M3 Finding This tumult 'bout my dore (to tell you true) It somewhat mazd me. View more context for this quotation 1657 T. Manton Pract. Comm. Jude xvi. 477 This is the Devils device, first to maze people, (as birds are with a light and a bell in the night) and then to drive them into the net. 1716 B. Church Entertaining Passages Philip's War i. 5 The Pilot yet sat his Horse, tho' so maz'd with the Shot, as not to have sense to guide him. 1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Milk Neither should the Milk-maid..affright the Cow or maze her. 1820 W. Scott Abbot II. iv. 117 ‘The lad is mazed!’ said the falconer to himself. 1855 A. Manning Old Chelsea Bun-house xiv. 232 My head was mazed with my journey. 1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers III. 100 If I could but think; but it's my head as is aching so; doctor, I wish yo'd go, for I need being alone, I'm so mazed. 1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. IV 295 Then said the King, ‘The man is mazed with fear’. 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 24 Geographers, who say the world's a sphere, Are either ignorant, or mazed with beer. 1956 B. Chute Greenwillow xvii. 197 I was upside down in a spinney bush, and the light mazed me. 1971 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) 326/1 She often told us to stop rompsin' and roarin'. She would tell us, ‘You got me head mazed.’ 3. transitive. To bewilder, perplex, confuse; to cause (a person) to wander in mind. Usually in passive (also reflexive). Now rare. Perhaps Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)] abobc1330 confusec1350 confoundc1374 cumbera1375 passc1384 maskerc1400 mopc1425 enose1430 manga1450 overmusec1460 perplex1477 maze1482 enmuse1502 ruffle?a1505 unsteady1532 entangle1540 duddle1548 intricate1548 distraught1579 distract1582 mizzle1583 moider1587 amuse1595 mist1598 bepuzzle1599 gravel1601 plunder1601 puzzle1603 intrigue1612 vexa1613 metagrobolize?a1616 befumea1618 fuddle1617 crucify1621 bumfiddlea1625 implicate1625 giddify1628 wilder1642 buzzlea1644 empuzzle1646 dunce1649 addle1652 meander1652 emberlucock1653 flounder1654 study1654 disorient1655 embarrass?1656 essome1660 embrangle1664 jumble1668 dunt1672 muse1673 clutter1685 emblustricate1693 fluster1720 disorientate1728 obfuscate1729 fickle1736 flustrate1797 unharmonize1797 mystify1806 maffle1811 boggle1835 unballast1836 stomber1841 throw1844 serpentine1850 unbalance1856 tickle1865 fog1872 bumfuzzle1878 wander1897 to put off1909 defeat1914 dither1919 befuddle1926 ungear1931 to screw up1941 1482 W. Caxton Trevisa's Higden i. xxx. f. 40^v Who that gooth in to that hows [sc. a labyrinth] & wolde come out agayn..shal be so mased that out can he not goo. 1532 (a1475) Assembly of Ladies 38 in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 381 Other ther were, so mased in her mind, Al wayes [of a maze] were good for hem, bothe eest and west. 1627 W. Sclater Briefe Expos. 2 Thess. 73 We maze our selues sometimes in following Schoolemen. 1765 S. Johnson Pref. to Shakespear's Plays p. xii He who has mazed his imagination, in following the phantoms which other writers raise up before him, may here be cured of his delirious exstasies. 1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen xvi. 218 A Protestant..finds himself a good deal ‘mazed’ when he first looks for the sacred sites. 1868 J. E. T. Rogers Man. Polit. Econ. Pref. p. v The historian who is ignorant of the interpretations of political economy is constantly mazed in a medley of unconnected and unintelligible facts. 4. intransitive. To move in a winding course; to wander as if in a maze. Also (occasionally) transitive with it. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > change direction of movement [verb (intransitive)] > move in winding course to turn and winda1398 wreathea1500 twine1553 indent1567 virea1586 crank1594 to dance the hay or hays1600 maze1605 serpent1606 to indent the way1612 cringlea1629 indenture1631 circumgyre1634 twist1635 glomerate1638 winda1682 serpentine1767 meander1785 zigzag1787 zag1793 to worm one's way1822 vandyke1828 crankle1835 thread the needle1843 switchback1903 rattlesnake1961 zig1969 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 78 Like as moulten Lead being powred forth Vpon a leuell plot of sand or earth, In many fashions mazeth too and fro. ?1750 J. Langhorne Poems 44 Thus silver Wharf..Still, melancholy-mazing, seems to mourn. 1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality II. xi. 179 Walter led his..patron through this field and that field;..till, having mazed it and circled it for..three hours, he finally conducted the serjeant to the very gate at which he had first entered. 1865 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia V. xix. i. 411 They struck their tents everywhere;..and only went mazing hither and thither. 1874 Overland Monthly May 398 The approach of the long Summer which terminated the glacial epoch, found it [sc. the great south Lyell glacier] still mazing and swedging compliantly among the strong unflinching bosses. 5. transitive. To give a labyrinthine structure to; to form into a maze or maze-like structure. Now usually in passive. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > cause to have series of curves [verb (transitive)] > involve in a maze or form mazes upon maze1606 1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 29 Meander-like..Thou runn'st to meet thy Self's pure streams behind thee, Mazing the Meads where thou dost turn & winde-thee. 1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία To Author A iv Some maze their Thoughts in Labyrinths, and thus Invoke no Reader, but an Oedipus. 1874 Appletons' Jrnl. 4 July 22 They will cultivate the land by manual labor, instead of ‘huzzing and mazing the blessed fields with the devil's own team’. 1990 R. Rhodes Hole in World ii. v. 141 A big trolley barn mazed with overhead lines and tracks. 1994 Malahat Rev. Spring 10 Each region is mazed with hedges. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹c1300n.²1486adj.1842v.a1375
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mazen.1

Compounds

Derivatives

† mazen.2

mazeadj.

mazev.

mazen.¹

† mazen.²