fun

English Online Dictionary. What means fun‎? What does fun mean?

Translingual

Symbol

fun

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Fulniô.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Fulniô terms

English

Etymology

From Middle English fonne, fon (“foolish, simple, silly”) or fonnen (“make a fool of”), from Middle English fonne (“a fool, dupe”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish fånig (“foolish”), Swedish fåne (“a fool”), from Old Norse fáni (“vain person, swaggerer”), but of unknown ultimate origin. Perhaps related to or influenced by fjäll (“rock, cliff, mountain”). Compare also English fumble, Norwegian Nynorsk fomme (“clumsy 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 Old Frisian fonna, fone, fomne, variant forms of fāmne, fēmne (“young woman, virgin”), from Proto-West Germanic *faimnijā, from Proto-Germanic *faimnijǭ (“maiden”), from 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

• (US, Received Pronunciation) enPR: fŭn, IPA^(key): /fʌn/
• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /fʊn/
• Rhymes: -ʌn

Noun

fun (uncountable)

1. Amusement, enjoyment or pleasure.

   Synonyms: amusement, diversion, enjoyment, a laugh, pleasure
2. Playful, often noisy, activity.

   Synonyms: boisterousness, horseplay, rough and tumble

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fun (comparative more fun or (informal) funner, superlative most fun or (informal) funnest)

1. Enjoyable or 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

2. (informal) Whimsical or flamboyant.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

fun (third-person singular simple present funs, present participle funning, simple past and past participle funned)

1. (colloquial) To tease, kid, poke fun at, make fun of.

Translations

See also

References

Anagrams

• FNU, NFU, unf

Chibcha

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /βun/

Noun

fun

1. Alternative form of bun

References

• Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English fun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fœn/
• Rhymes: -œn

Adjective

fun (invariable)

1. (colloquial) fun

Galician

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fun

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ir

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fun

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ser

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• funn (Altenhofen spelling)

Etymology

From Middle High German von (“from”), from Old High German fon, fona (“from”), from Proto-Germanic *fanē (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó (“off”).

Cognate with German vom and Luxembourgish vun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfun/
• Rhymes: -un
• Syllabification: fun

Preposition

fun [with dative]

1. of; expressing possession

2. from; used to indicate source or provenance

3. from; used to indicate a starting point or initial reference

Related terms

References

• Piter Kehoma Boll (2021) “fun”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português (in Portuguese), 3rd edition, Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch, page 61, column 1

Japanese

Romanization

fun

1. Rōmaji transcription of ふん
2. Rōmaji transcription of フン

Tboli

Noun

fun

1. owner

Yoruba

Verb

fún

1. give
2. choke, squeeze, strangle, throttle
3. scatter, strew
4. sew

Preposition

fún

1. for, on behalf of