astound

1. ex- => es- => as- "out" + -tound (ton-) "thunder".
2. 这里的 as- "out" 取引申义，表示：离开、脱离正常的状态或情绪或表情。
3. 字面含义：thunder sb out. => leave someone thunderstruck.
4. 或者：out: 出去、离开、远离。=> 不管。=> 听任、让、使…处于(某种状态)(leave)。

astound 吃惊

as来自前缀ex- 变体，此处表强调。词根ton, 雷，拟声词，同thunder. 指如被雷击。缀生字母d, 同sound.

astound

astound: [17] Astound, astonish, and stun all come ultimately from the same origin: a Vulgar Latin verb *extonāre, which literally meant something like ‘leave someone thunderstruck’ (it was formed from the Latin verb tonāre ‘thunder’). This became Old French estoner, which had three offshoots in English: it was borrowed into Middle English in the 13th century as astone or astun, and immediately lost its initial a, producing a form stun; then in the 15th century, in Scotland originally, it had the suffix -ish grafted on to it, producing astonish; and finally in the 17th century its past participle, astoned or, as it was also spelled, astound, formed the basis of a new verb.
=> astonish, stun

astound (v.)

mid-15c., from Middle English astouned, astoned (c. 1300), past participle of astonen, astonien "to stun" (see astonish), with more of the original sense of Vulgar Latin *extonare. Related: Astounded; astounding.

1. If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.

如果把我们能做到的都做了，最终连我们自己都会被吓到。

2. Their dark humor never failed to astound him.

他们的黑色幽默总能让他咋舌。

3. He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance.

过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。

4. A repertoire of tricks will astound the esteemed public.

全部节目将使尊敬的观众惊心动魄.

5. His practical grasp of affairs and his energy still astound me.

他对事物的实际掌握和他充沛的精力实在使我惊异.

【stun, astound, astonish, surprise, amaze, startle】
这组词都有“使惊愕，使惊讶，使惊奇”的意思，其区别是：
stun: 语气最强，指极度惊讶而目瞪口呆，不知所措。
astound: 语气强，指由于事情令人难以置信或实在罕见而使人感到震惊。
astonish: 语气较强，指出乎预料，意外发生，但又无法解释而感到惊奇。
surprise: 普通用词，多指因未预料或意外的事而引起的惊奇之感。
amaze: 语气较强，指因认为不可能或极少可能发生情况的出现而感到惊讶或迷惑不解。
startle: 指因突然的惊吓或意料不到的刺激等而使人惊跳或震惊。