Astonishment is very great surprise. To my astonishment, a look of astonishment, stare in astonishment.
It is stronger than surprise and stops somebody where they stand. Astonishment usually shows on a face a moment before anybody says anything at all.
1nounastonishmentVery great surprise.
“There was a silence of pure astonishment.”
astonishment is a feeling.
Middle English
astoneyen
English
astonish
English, today
astonishment
Built from
From astonish + -ment. astonish Probably an alteration (due to words ending in -ish: abolish, banish, cherish, establish, furnish, etc.) of earlier astony, astone, astun (“to astonish, stun”), from Middle English astoneyen, astonen (“to stun, astonish”), variant of stonen, stoneyen (“to stun, astonish”) prefixed with a-. However, compare Old French estonir, a rare variant of estoner (“to stun, astonish”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA