And because all bold and irreverent Speeches touching matters of high nature, and all malicious and false Reports tending to Sedition, or to the Amusement of Our People, are punishable ... (etc.) [Charles II, Proclamation of Oct. 26, 1688]
Meaning "a pastime, play, game, anything which pleasantly perts the attention" (from duty, work, etc.) is from 1670s, originally depreciative; meaning "pleasurable persion" attested from 1690s. Amusement hall is from 1862; amusement park first recorded 1897.amuse一词是从古法语词amuser变化来的，意思是“使……发呆”；a即to； muser，“stare stupidly（呆着）”。中国有句俗话，“看戏的是‘傻子’”。倒有这一层含义，因为戏演得太逼真了，看对的人不免“望着发呆”，而这正是一种娱乐方式。
这个词最初进入英语时，意思作“哄骗”、“欺骗”解，如果当时的士兵amused the enemy，那绝不是“使敌人高兴”的意思，而是“诱骗敌人”、“牵制敌人”，现在的amusement也可以说是对人们的一种“牵制”，也是一种“转移人们注意力”的方式，只不过它是采用一种给人娱乐，使人高兴的办法罢了。
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：amusement 词源，amusement 含义。
amuse,娱乐，-ment,名词后缀。