puzzle
pronunciation
How to pronounce puzzle in British English:
UK [ˈpʌzl]
How to pronounce puzzle in American English:
US [ˈpʌzl]
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- Noun:
- a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution
- a toy that tests your ingenuity
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- Verb:
- be a mystery or bewildering to
- be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide
Word Origin
- puzzle
- puzzle: [16] The origin of puzzle is, appropriately, a puzzle. One suggestion is that it may be derived from the now obsolete verb pose ‘interrogate, perplex’ (which survives in poser ‘difficult question or problem’), a shortened form of appose ‘interrogate or question severely’. This came from Old French aposer, a variant of oposer, from which English gets oppose. Another possibility is some connection with the Old English verb puslian ‘pick out the best bits’, which is reminiscent of puzzle out ‘find or solve by laborious reasoning’ (although that sense of puzzle is not recorded until the end of the 18th century).
- puzzle (v.)
- 1590s, pusle "bewilder, confound," possibly frequentative of pose (v.) in obsolete sense of "perplex" (compare nuzzle from nose). Related: Puzzled; puzzling.
- puzzle (n.)
- c. 1600, "state of being puzzled," from puzzle (v.); meaning "perplexing question" is from 1650s; that of "a toy contrived to test one's ingenuity" is from 1814.