Literally 'thunderstruck,' from Vulgar Latin *extonāre (ex- + tonāre, to thunder) — sharing its thunderous root with 'stun' and 'detonate.'
To surprise someone greatly; to fill with wonder or amazement.
From Middle English 'astonien,' from Old French 'estoner' (to stun, to astonish, literally to strike with thunder), from Vulgar Latin *extonāre, a compound of Latin 'ex-' (out, intensifier) and 'tonāre' (to thunder), from PIE *ten- or *sten- (to resound, to make thunder-noise) — the same root that generated Greek 'stenos' (narrow, strained sound), Latin 'tonitrus' (thunder), and Old English 'þunor' (thunder), source of 'thunder' and the name 'Thor.' The original force of 'astonish' was violent physical shock — being struck as if by lightning — and the semantic softening to mere surprise took centuries of use. An earlier English form 'stonied' (struck senseless) shows the intermediate stage. The prefix 'a-' is a Middle English intensifier particle, not the Latin 'ab-.' Key
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