Amuse
late 15th century (in the sense ‘delude, deceive’): from Old French amuser ‘entertain, deceive’, from a- (expressing causal effect) + muser ‘stare stupidly’. Current senses date from the mid 17th century.
wiktionary
From Late Middle English *amusen(“to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on”), from Old French amuser(“to stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought”), from a- + muser(“to stare stupidly at, gape, wander, waste time, loiter, think carefully about, attend to”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Cognate with Occitan musa(“idle waiting”), Italian musare(“to gape idly about”). Possibly from Old French *mus(“snout”) from Vulgar Latin *mūsa(“snout”) — compare Medieval Latin mūsum(“muzzle, snout”) –, from Proto-Germanic *mū-(“muzzle, snout”), from Proto-Indo-European *mū-(“lips, muzzle”). Compare North Frisian müs, mös(“mouth”), German Maul(“muzzle, snout”).
Alternative etymology connects muser and musa with Frankish *muoza(“careful attention, leisure, idleness”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtǭ(“leave, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *med-(“to acquire, possess, control”). This would make it a cognate of Dutch musen(“to leisure”), Old High German *muoza(“careful attention, leisure, idleness”) and muozōn(“to be idle, have leisure or opportunity”), German Muße(“leisure”). More at empty.
etymonline
amuse (v.)
late 15c., "to divert the attention, beguile, delude," from Old French amuser "fool, tease, hoax, entrap; make fun of," literally "cause to muse" (as a distraction), from a "at, to" (from Latin ad, but here probably a causal prefix) + muser "ponder, stare fixedly" (see muse (v.)).
Original English senses obsolete; meaning "divert from serious business, tickle the fancy of" is recorded from 1630s, but through 18c. the primary meaning was "deceive, cheat" by first occupying the attention. "The word was not in reg. use bef. 1600, and was not used by Shakespere" [OED]. Bemuse retains more of the original meaning. Greek amousos meant "without Muses," hence "uneducated."
