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Aback vs Amaze - What's the difference?

aback | amaze |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between aback and amaze

is that aback is (obsolete) an abacus while amaze is (obsolete) to terrify, to fill with panic.

As nouns the difference between aback and amaze

is that aback is (obsolete) an abacus while amaze is .

As an adverb aback

is (archaic) towards the back or rear; backwards .

As a verb amaze is

(obsolete) to stupefy; to knock unconscious.

aback

English

Etymology 1

* From (etyl) . * . Compare West Frisian .

Adverb

(-)
  • (archaic) Towards the back or rear; backwards.
  • * (rfdate),
  • Therewith aback she started.
  • (archaic) In the rear; a distance behind.
  • (Knolles)
  • By surprise; startled; dumbfounded.
  • (nautical) Backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way.
  • By setting the foresail aback and the headsail in the middle one can bring a fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat practically to a halt even in heavy wind.
    (Totten)
    Usage notes
    * (by surprise) Preceded by a form of the word take .

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    From abacus.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An abacus.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    References

    amaze

    English

    Verb

    (amaz)
  • (obsolete) To stupefy; to knock unconscious.
  • (obsolete) To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze.
  • * Shakespeare
  • a labyrinth to amaze his foes
  • (obsolete) To terrify, to fill with panic.
  • *, New York Review Books 2001, p.261:
  • [Fear] amazeth many men that are to speak or show themselves in public assemblies, or before some great personages […].
  • To fill with wonder and surprise; to astonish, astound, surprise or perplex.
  • He was amazed when he found that the girl was a robot.
  • * Bible, Matthew xii. 23
  • And all the people were amazed , and said, Is not this the son of David?
  • * Goldsmith
  • Spain has long fallen from amazing Europe with her wit, to amusing them with the greatness of her Catholic credulity.
  • To undergo amazement; to be astounded.
  • Noun

    (-)
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , I.ii:
  • All in amaze he suddenly vp start / With sword in hand, and with the old man went [...].
  • * 1891 , (Mary Noailles Murfree), In the "Stranger People's" Country , Nebraska 2005, p. 103:
  • Shattuck looked at him in amaze .
  • * 1985 , (Lawrence Durrell), Quinx'', Faber & Faber 2004 (''Avignon Quintet ), p. 1361:
  • She took the proffered cheque and stared at it with puzzled amaze , dazed by her own behaviour.