different between astonishment vs agape

English

Etymology

From astonish +? -ment.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??st?n??m?nt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??st??n??m?nt/

Noun

astonishment (countable and uncountable, plural astonishments)

1. The feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise.

   Synonyms: amazement, stupefaction, wonder, wonderment

   • 1630, John Milton, “On Shakespear” in Poems of Mr. John Milton, London: Ruth Raworth, 1645 p. 27,^[1]

     Thou in our wonder and astonishment

     Hast built thy self a live-long Monument.

   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, London: Benjamin Motte, Volume 2, Part 3, Chapter 7, p. 98,^[2]

     […] he dismissed all his Attendants with a turn of his Finger; at which, to my great astonishment, they vanished in an Instant, like Visions in a Dream, when we awake on a sudden.

   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, London: for the author, Volume 3, Chapter 1, p. 14,^[3]

     At these words, Marianne’s eyes expressed the astonishment, which her lips could not utter.

   • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Boston: L.C. Page, Chapter 3, p. 41,^[4]

     Marilla’s astonishment could not have been greater if Matthew had expressed a predilection for standing on his head.

   • 2004, Andrea Levy, Small Island, London: Review, Chapter 33, p. 330,^[5]

     Imagine my astonishment when, reaching the bustling street, every Englishwoman I look on is also attired in a dowdy housecoat.

2. Something very surprising.

   Synonyms: marvel, stunner (colloquial)

   • 1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, New York: Scribner, Book 2, Chapter 9, p. 444,^[6]

     To find Ned Silverton among the habitual frequenters of Mrs. Hatch’s drawing-room was one of Lily’s first astonishments;

   • 1964, Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Puffin, 1998, Chapter 18, p. 83,^[7]

     Everything he had seen so far — the great chocolate river, the waterfall, the huge sucking pipes, the candy meadows, the Oompa-Loompas, the beautiful pink boat, and most of all, Mr. Willy Wonka himself — had been so astonishing that he began to wonder whether there could possibly be any more astonishments left.

3. (obsolete) Loss of physical sensation; inability to move a part of the body.

   Synonyms: paralysis, numbness

   • 1583, Philip Barrough, The Method of Phisicke, London: Thomas Vautroullier, Book 3, Chapter 37, p. 126,^[8]

     […] there followeth astonishment of the leg that is neere, that it can neither be stretched out right, nor he cannot go on his feet.

   • 1634, Philemon Holland (translator), The Historie of the World, London: Adam Islip, Book 29, Chapter 5, p. 363,^[9]

     […] whosoever maketh water in the same place where a dog hath newly pissed, so as both vrines be mingled together, shall immediatly find a coldnesse and astonishment in his loines,

4. (obsolete) Loss of mental faculties, inability to think or use one's senses.

   Synonym: stupor

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 60.3,^[10]

     Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

   • 1678, Aphra Behn, The Lives of Sundry Notorious Villains, London: for the author, Chapter 2, p. 30,^[11]

     Upon the Stage he so charmed the people into astonishment with his babble, that he made them buy off amain his Drugs;

5. (obsolete) Loss of composure or presence of mind.

   Synonyms: consternation, dismay

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonby, Book 1, Canto 3, pp. 35-36,^[12]

     […] where of his cruell rage

     Nigh dead with feare, and faint astonishment,

     Shee found them both in darkesome corner pent;

   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, London: Andrew Crooke, Chapter 46, p. 374,^[13]

     […] as when a man ignorant of the Ceremonies of Court, comming into the presence of a greater Person than he is used to speak to, and stumbling at his entrance, to save himselfe from falling, lets slip his Cloake; to recover his Cloake, lets fall his Hat; and with one disorder after another, discovers his astonishment and rusticity.

Related terms

• astonish
• astonished
• astonishing

Translations

English

Etymology 1

From a- +? gape. First known use by John Milton in Paradise Lost (1667).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: ?.g?p´, IPA^(key): /???e?p/
• Rhymes: -e?p

Adjective

agape (comparative more agape, superlative most agape)

1. In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, London, Book 5, lines 353-357,^[1]

     […] in himself was all his state,

     More solemn then the tedious pomp that waits

     On Princes, when thir rich Retinue long

     Of Horses led, and Grooms besmeard with Gold

     Dazles the croud, and sets them all agape.
2. Wide open.
   • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Chapter VIII

     With his mouth agape and his hands clenched, Rufus Dawes, incapable of further speech, made a last effort to nod assent, but his head fell upon his breast; the next moment, the flickering light, the gloomy prison, the eager face of the doctor, and the astonished face of Vickers, vanished from before his straining eyes.

   • 2004, Jeffrey C. Carrier, John A. Musick, & Michael R. Heithaus, Biology of Sharks and their Relatives, page 171

     If the slightly agape mouth is closed prior to mouth opening, this is termed the preparatory phase and is more common in suction-feeding bony fishes than elasmobranchs.

Usage notes

• Almost always used after a noun or noun phrase it modifies.

Synonyms

• (in a state of astonishment): open-mouthed, dumbstruck, wide-eyed
• (open wide): agog

Translations

Adverb

agape (comparative more agape, superlative most agape)

1. In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention.
2. Open wide.
   • 1996, Perri O'Shaughnessy, Invasion of Privacy, page 508

     The bathroom door stood agape, and the peeling vinyl floor was bare.

   • 2005, Terry Goodkind, Chainfire, page 427

     He glanced up into Richard's eyes, his own wide with wonder, his mouth hanging agape.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek ????? (agáp?).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?-gä´p?, IPA^(key): /?????pe?/
• enPR: ?´g?-p?', IPA^(key): /?æ????pe?/
• enPR: ?g´?-p?, IPA^(key): /?æ??pi?/
• enPR: ?g´?-p?, IPA^(key): /?æ??pe?/

Noun

agape (countable and uncountable, plural agapae or agapai)

2. (Christianity) The love of God for mankind, or the benevolent love of Christians for others.
3. Spiritual, altruistic, beneficial love which wills good for others.
4. A love feast, especially one held in the early Christian Church in connection with the Eucharist.

Synonyms

• (God's love; benevolent love): charity

Translations

References

• agape on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “agape”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• “agape” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Aromanian

Noun

agape f (definite articulation agapea)

1. Alternative form of agapi

French

Noun

agape f (plural agapes)

1. (Christianity) agape

Indonesian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ????? (agáp?, “love; the love between man and God; Christian love feasts”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?ape/
• Hyphenation: a?ga?pé

Noun

agapé

1. (Catholicism) agape, love; the love between man and God; Christian love feasts.

Further reading

• “agape” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ????? (agáp?, “love; the love between man and God; Christian love feasts”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?a.?a.pe?/, [?ä?äpe?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?a.?a.pe/, [?????p?]

Noun

agap? f (genitive agap?s); first declension

1. agape (Christian love or charity)
2. agape (the "love feast" of the early Christian Church)

Declension

First-declension noun (Greek-type).

Descendants

• Portuguese: ágape
• Spanish: ágape

References

• agape in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• agape in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)