surprise
pronunciation
How to pronounce surprise in British English:
UK [səˈpraɪz]
How to pronounce surprise in American English:
US [sərˈpraɪz]
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- Noun:
- the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
- a sudden unexpected event
- the act of surprising someone
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- Verb:
- cause to be surprised
- come upon or take unawares
- attack by storm; attack suddenly
Word Origin
- surprise
- surprise: [15] To surprise someone is etymologically to ‘overtake’ them. The word comes from the past participle of Old French surprendre ‘overtake’, a compound verb formed from the prefix sur- ‘over’ and prendre ‘take’. By the time it reached English it was being used for ‘affect suddenly, as with a particular emotion’ (‘He shall be so surprised with anger and furious woodness [madness]’, William Caxton, Eneydos 1490), and this gradually evolved via ‘take unawares’ to, in the mid 17th century, ‘astonish’.=> apprehend, comprehend, prison, reprehensible
- surprise (n.)
- also formerly surprize, late 14c., "unexpected attack or capture," from Old French surprise "a taking unawares" (13c.), from noun use of past participle of Old French sorprendre "to overtake, seize, invade" (12c.), from sur- "over" (see sur- (1)) + prendre "to take," from Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere "to grasp, seize" (see prehensile). Meaning "something unexpected" first recorded 1590s, that of "feeling of astonishment caused by something unexpected" is c. 1600. Meaning "fancy dish" is attested from 1708. A Surprize is ... a dish ... which promising little from its first appearance, when open abounds with all sorts of variety. [W. King, "Cookery," 1708] Surprise party originally was a stealth military detachment (1826); festive sense is attested by 1857; according to Thornton's "American Glossary," originally a gathering of members of a congregation at the house of their preacher "with the ostensible purpose of contributing provisions, &c., for his support," and sometimes called a donation party. Phrase taken by surprise is attested from 1690s.
- surprise (v.)
- also formerly surprize, late 14c., "overcome, overpower" (of emotions), from the noun or from Anglo-French surprise, fem. past participle of Old French surprendre (see surprise (n.)). Meaning "come upon unexpectedly" is from 1590s; that of "strike with astonishment" is 1650s.
Example
- 1. This shouldn 't come as a surprise .
- 2. The return of the mining mega-merger was no surprise .
- 3. The results might surprise you !
- 4. China 's move caught the norwegians by surprise .
- 5. Whatever else it was , the attack was not a surprise .