A-maze-ing

During one of our Labyrinth Sharing Events we were asked by an attendee about the etymology of the word “amazing” and whether it had any connection to mazes - as it was a term we had all used a lot over the course of the meeting when describing Scilly’s complete amazing labyrinth heritage. The results from Century Dictionary confirm that yes their meanings are definitely connected:

amaze(v.)

"overwhelm or confound with sudden surprise or wonder," 1580s, a back-formation from Middle English amased "stunned, dazed, bewildered," (late 14c.), earlier "stupefied, irrational, foolish" (c. 1200), from Old English amasod, from a- (1), probably used here as an intensive prefix, + *mæs (see maze). Related: Amazed; amazing.

Amaze, literally, to put into a maze, is used to express perturbation or bewilderment in one's surprise, and naturally therefore belongs to that which closely concerns one's self or is incomprehensible.

maze(n.)

c. 1300, "delusion, bewilderment, confusion of thought," possibly from Old English *mæs, which is suggested by the compound amasod "amazed" and verb amasian "to confound, confuse" (compare amaze). A word of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Norwegian dialectal mas "exhausting labor," Swedish masa "to be slow or sluggish."

The meaning “labyrinth, baffling network of paths or passages" is recorded from late 14c. (on the notion of something intended to confuse or mislead).

Also as a verb in Middle English, "to stupefy, daze" (early 14c.).

So, Scilly’s labyrinths are definitely entirely amazing!

For further reading there is this fascinating blog post by Oxford Etymologist Anatoly Liberman: https://blog.oup.com/2013/11/amazing-word-origin-etymology/