puzzleyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[puzzle 词源字典]
puzzle: [16] The origin of puzzle is, appropriately, a puzzle. One suggestion is that it may be derived from the now obsolete verb pose ‘interrogate, perplex’ (which survives in poser ‘difficult question or problem’), a shortened form of appose ‘interrogate or question severely’. This came from Old French aposer, a variant of oposer, from which English gets oppose. Another possibility is some connection with the Old English verb puslian ‘pick out the best bits’, which is reminiscent of puzzle out ‘find or solve by laborious reasoning’ (although that sense of puzzle is not recorded until the end of the 18th century).
[puzzle etymology, puzzle origin, 英语词源]
puzzle (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1590s, pusle "bewilder, confound," possibly frequentative of pose (v.) in obsolete sense of "perplex" (compare nuzzle from nose). Related: Puzzled; puzzling.
puzzle (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
c. 1600, "state of being puzzled," from puzzle (v.); meaning "perplexing question" is from 1650s; that of "a toy contrived to test one's ingenuity" is from 1814.