stun

English

Alternative forms

• stin (Devon)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”) or perhaps from an unattested Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”), from tonāre ("to thunder"; compare Latin attonāre). An alternative etymology derives stonen from Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *stunōn. See also astonish, astound.

Compare Swedish stöna (“to moan, groan”), Danish stønne (“to moan, groan”), Icelandic stynja (“to moan”), Occitan estonar (“to surprise”), and French étonner (“to surprise”), and more distantly, Dutch steunen (“to groan; support”), German stöhnen (“to groan, moan”), German staunen (“to be astonished, be amazed, marvel at”), and Russian стонать (stonatʹ), стена́ть (stenátʹ, “to moan, groan”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stʌn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌn

Verb

stun (third-person singular simple present stuns, present participle stunning, simple past and past participle stunned)

1. (transitive) To incapacitate; especially by inducing disorientation or unconsciousness.

   Synonym: daze

   Bill tried to stun the snake by striking it on the head.

   In many European countries cattle have to be stunned before slaughtering.

2. (transitive) To shock or surprise.

   The celebrity was stunned to find herself confronted with unfounded allegations on the front page of a newspaper.

   He stood there stunned, looking at the beautiful, breath-taking sunrise.

3. (snooker, billiards) To hit the cue ball so that it slides without topspin or backspin (and with or without sidespin) and continues at a natural angle after contact with the object ball
4. (intransitive, video games) To enter a stunned state.

   The monsters stun when you jump on them.

5. (Singapore, military, slang) To confiscate (an unguarded rifle, magazine, piece of equipment, etc.) from an unsuspecting soldier as punishment for neglect.

Translations

to incapacitate

• Bulgarian: зашеметявам (bg) impf (zašemetjavam), зашеметя pf (zašemetja)
• Catalan: atordir (ca), entebenar
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 把...打暈 / 把...打晕 (bǎ ... dǎyūn)

• Czech: omráčit, ochromit (cs) pf
• Dutch: verdoven (nl)
• Esperanto: svenbati
• Finnish: tyrmätä (fi), tainnuttaa (fi)
• French: étourdir (fr)
• German: betäuben (de)
• Italian: stordire (it), intontire (it)
• Japanese: 気絶させる (ja) (きぜつさせる, kizetsu saseru)
• Latin: stupefaciō
• Middle English: stonen, stoneyen
• Norman: assommer
• Norwegian: svimeslå, lamslå, lamme (no)
• Portuguese: atordoar (pt)
• Russian: оглуша́ть (ru) impf (oglušátʹ), оглуши́ть (ru) pf (oglušítʹ)
• Slovak: omráčiť
• Spanish: anonadar (es), aturdir (es), pasmar (es), atontar (es), dejar sin sentido
• Swedish: bedöva (sv)
• Ukrainian: приголо́мшувати impf (pryholómšuvaty), приголо́мшити pf (pryholómšyty)

to shock or surprise

• Bulgarian: шокирам (bg) (šokiram)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使震驚 / 使震惊 (zh) (shǐ zhènjīng)

• Czech: zaskočit (cs)
• Dutch: verbluffen (nl)
• Finnish: ällistyttää (fi)
• French: étourdir (fr), étonner (fr), époustoufler (fr)
• German: verblüffen (de)
• Italian: stupefare (it), sorprendere (it), incantare (it)
• Japanese: 呆然とさせる (ja) (ぼうぜんとさせる, bōzen to saseru)
• Latin: stupefaciō, attonō
• Middle English: stonen, stoneyen
• Portuguese: assombrar (pt), aturdir (pt)
• Russian: ошеломля́ть (ru) impf (ošelomljátʹ), ошеломи́ть (ru) pf (ošelomítʹ), потряса́ть (ru) impf (potrjasátʹ), потрясти́ (ru) pf (potrjastí)
• Slovak: zaraziť, zaskočiť
• Spanish: aturdir (es), adarvar (es) (rare), anonadar (es), despampanar (es), atonar (disused), atronar (es), deslembar (Puerto Rico), eslembar (Puerto Rico)
• Swedish: förstumma, chockera (sv), överraska (sv)
• Ukrainian: приголо́мшувати impf (pryholómšuvaty), приголо́мшити pf (pryholómšyty)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido: ^{(please verify)} aturdar (io)

Noun

stun (countable and uncountable, plural stuns)

1. The condition of being stunned.
2. That which stuns; a shock; a stupefying blow.
3. (Newfoundland) A person who lacks intelligence.
4. (billiards, snooker, pool) The effect on the cue ball where the ball is hit without topspin, backspin or sidespin.

   Williams will need a lot of stun to avoid going in the middle pocket

5. (science fiction, uncountable) A low-range setting for an energy weapon that will stun its target but not injure or kill it.
   • 1966 September 8, George Clayton Johnson, The Man Trap (Star Trek), season 1, episode 1:

     Captain James Kirk: "Set your phaser on one quarter. I'll leave mine on stun."

Derived terms

• on stun
• stun grenade
• stun gun

Translations

the condition of being stunned

• Bulgarian: зашеметяване (bg) n (zašemetjavane), безсъзнание (bg) n (bezsǎznanie)
• Russian: ошеломле́ние (ru) n (ošelomlénije)

That which stuns

• Bulgarian: шок m (šok), зашеметяващ удар m (zašemetjavašt udar)

Anagrams

• NUTS, Unst, nuts, tsun, tuns

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• stönje (Mooring)
• stuun (Sylt)

Etymology

From Old Frisian stonda, from Proto-West Germanic *standan, from Proto-Germanic *standaną.

Pronunciation

• (Föhr-Amrum) IPA^(key): [stʊn]

Verb

stun

1. (Föhr-Amrum) to stand

Conjugation

Conjugation of stun (Föhr-Amrum dialect)

infinitive I	stun
infinitive II	(tu) stunen
past participle	stenen
imperative singular	stun
imperative plural	stun’m
	present	past
1st singular	stun	sted
2nd singular	stäänst	stedst
3rd singular	stäänt	sted
plural	stun	sted
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	haa stenen	hed stenen
2nd singular	heest stenen	hedst stenen
3rd singular	hee stenen	hed stenen
plural	haa stenen	hed stenen
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skal stun	wal stun
2nd singular	skääl stun	wääl stun
3rd singular	skal stun	wal stun
plural	skel stun	wel stun