Origins
The origin of puzzle is, fittingly, unsolved.βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ The word appeared in English around 1590 as a verb meaning 'to bewilder or confuse'. No source language has been definitively identified. The etymology is one of English's genuine mysteries.
The best guess connects it to the older English verb pose, meaning 'to perplex' or 'to question closely'. Pose came from Old French aposer, itself a variant of opposer. A puzzled person was one who had been posed β confronted with a question they could not answer. The -le ending may be a frequentative suffix, suggesting repeated or sustained bewilderment.
Other theories exist. Some scholars link it to a dialect word pussle meaning 'to muddle'. Others note a possible connection to Low German pusseln meaning 'to work in a confused or desultory way'. None of these theories has won consensus.
Later History
The noun appeared shortly after the verb, initially meaning 'a state of confusion'. The shift to 'a problem designed to be solved' came later, gathering momentum in the 18th century.
The first jigsaw puzzle was made around 1760 by John Spilsbury, a London mapmaker who glued a map to wood and cut along the borders. These 'dissected maps' taught geography to children. The name jigsaw puzzle arrived in the 1880s, when powered jigsaws replaced hand saws. Puzzle had found its permanent home: a confusion designed to delight.