Etymology

maze

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Today it means: A labyrinth; a puzzle consisting of a complicated network of paths or passages, the aim of which is to find one's way through. Full definition →

Middle English mase ← Old English *mæs
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maze · noun, verb1

  1. Old English · inherited from*mæs“delusion, bewilderment”
  2. Middle English · derived frommasen“to perplex, bewilder”
  3. Middle English · inherited frommase
  4. English todaymaze

From Middle English mase, from Middle English masen (“to perplex, bewilder”); or perhaps from Old English *mæs (“delusion, bewilderment”); akin to Old English āmasian (“to perplex, confound”), Icelandic masa (“to chatter”). More at amaze.

Maze · proper noun2

  1. Hebrew · derived fromמאז״ה
  2. Latin · derived fromMasiacum“estate of Masius”
  3. Irish · derived fromÓ Miadhaigh“descendant of Miadhach”
  4. English todayMaze

* As an English surname, variant of Mays. * As an English and Irish surname, variant of Maye, from Irish Ó Miadhaigh (“descendant of Miadhach”), see miadh (“esteem, respect”). Compare May. * As a Breton surname Mazé, shortened from Mazéo, Breton form of Matthew. * As a French surname Mazé, from a place in Maine-et-Loire, from Latin Masiacum (“estate of Masius”). * Also as a French surname, shortened pet form of Thomas. * Also as a French surname, variant of Mas, from the noun mas (“farmhouse”). * As a Slovene surname, shortened from Tomaž, a form of Thomas. Or, from the verb mazati (“to grease”). * As an Ashkenazic Jewish surname, from Hebrew מאז״ה (Mazeh), an acronym of מִזֶּרַע אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן (mi-zéra' Aharón ha-Kohén, “from the seed of Aaron the priest”), compare Cohen.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.