v. Obs. Forms: 3–6 aston-e(n, 4 astune, astoune, 5 astoon, astown, 5–6 astoyne, astoun, 6 astonne, 6–7 aston, 7–8 astun (some of these only in pa. pple.). [The etymology and form-history present points of difficulty. To all appearance, astone, astune, astoune, was a. OF. estone-r, estuner, estouner (now étonner) to stun, strike senseless, stupefy, shock, astonish:—L. *extonāre, f. ex out + tonāre to thunder: cf. cl. L. attonāre to strike with a thunderbolt, stun, stupefy. See A- pref. 9. The nature of its relation to STUN is as yet doubtful; connection with mod.G. staunen, erstaunen, uncertain.]
(The form-history is rendered more difficult by the ME. habit of spelling on for un (cf. son, sun; ton, tun; done, dun; some, sum; won, wont, etc.), which probably obtained here, since Gower rhymed astone, sone (= OE. sunu, son), Chaucer astoned, woned (= OE. wunod, wont), and 18th-c. writers had still astun. OF. o, u, sometimes gives Eng. u as in tun, gum, sum; sometimes ou, aw (through ū) as in crown, sound, round, confound; hence the forms astun, astoun; the late aston seems, like astony, astonish, to have been influenced by later F. estonner; astoon may have been a phonetic spelling of astūn; astoyne is unexplained. STUN (q.v.) is of later appearance, and so far as evidence goes, seems to be an aphetic form of astun. These words do not appear to have any connection with OE. stunian to resound (the sense ‘impingere’ was only a bad guess of Junius, repeated by Lye, etc.); but, both in meaning and form, it is difficult to consider them not related to G. staunen, erstaunen, a modern word adopted in 18th century from Swiss stūne, for which German scholars would seek a Teutonic etymology: see Grimm, Kluge. From astone and its pa. pples. astoned, astun’d, astound, have arisen the variants astony, astonied, whence again astonish, astonished, with their derivatives; also a new vb. astound, and pple. astounded, with their derivatives. To astun, astony, astonish, astound, are thus all of common origin.)
1. trans. To stun; to strike senseless with a blow, or partially senseless with a loud noise; to paralyse a limb with anæsthetics; to paralyse action, strike powerless, stupefy.
1340. Ayenb., 130. Þise byeþ uour strokes of þondre þet astoneþ þane zeneȝere and makeþ ssake.
c. 1450. Lonelich, Grail, xiv. 314. Of that strok astoned he was.
c. 1532. Ld. Berners, Huon, 493. With this mall I shall astone them all.
1543. Traheron, Vigo’s Chirurg., IV. 160. Some commaund to astoyne the member before incisyon.
1547. Boorde, Brev. Health, cclxxi. 90 b. The one legge and the one arme is benomed or astonned.
1576. T. N[ewton], Lemnie’s Touchst. Complex. (1633), 99. Some do so astone the limmes of them that touch them, that they have no feeling … a good while after.
1612. Drayton, Poly-olb., xviii. 291. Who with the thundring noyse … Astund the earth.
2. To daze (the eyes). rare.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W. (MS. G g. Camb.), 164. His face schon so bryhte That with the glem a-stonede was the syhte.
3. To smash or shiver with a blow.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., Astoynyn, or brese werkys (v.r. astoyn or brosyn), Quatio, quasso.
4. To strike mute with amazement, overwhelm one’s presence of mind; to confound, astound; to astonish.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Boeth., IV. v. 133. The moeueable poeple is a-stoned of alle þinges þat comen selde.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, IV. 1203. Þe grekes on þe ground were greatly astoynet.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., Astonyd, as mannys wytte, Attono.
1565. Jewel, Repl. Harding (1611), 276. Only to astonne and amaze the simple.
a. 1677. Barrow, Serm., Wks. 1716, I. 342. Would it not astone a mind so pure?
5. intr. To be amazed, to be full of astonishment. (Cf. G. erstaunen.)
1393. Gower, Conf., III. 54. He drad him of his owne sone, That makith him wel the more astone.
