puzzle

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• pŭzʹ(ə)l
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• Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpʌzəl/
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• Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: [ˈpʌzɫ̩]
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• British-Columbia, Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈpɐzəl/
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• Australian, New-Zealand: [ˈpɐzɫ̩]
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• Northern-England: /ˈpʊzəl/
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• Northern-England: [ˈpʊz.ɫ̩]
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• rhymes with -ʌzəl
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• CMU ARPABET: P AH1 Z AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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The verb, of uncertain origin, is attested first. Apparently cognate with Scots pousle, pouzle, poozle (“to trifle; poke or potter around aimlessly; search about with uncertainty”), Saterland Frisian puzelje (“to work hard and continuously”), West Frisian peuzelje (“to trifle, work slowly; eat slowly and daintifully, snack”), Dutch peuzelen (“to perform insignificant work, dawdle; pick at, eat with relish in small pieces, snack”), German Low German pusseln (“to tinker, fiddle; trifle”) and pöseln (“to work hard, toil; to slave away; suffer at work; work slowly and ineffectively”), German posseln, bosseln (“to perform trivial work, tinker”), Danish pusle (“to busy oneself with light work or chores; to be occupied with a task requiring ingenuity, care, and patience; to tinker”), Swedish pyssla (“to do light work; tinker; putter or potter around”), Norwegian Nynorsk pusla, putla (“to potter about”), Faroese putla (“to trifle; potter about; do one's work slowly; be dilatory”), Faroese puss (“damage, trick”). * An early form of the word is pusle, which is similar to Old English puslian (“to pick out the best bits, carefully select, cull”). It is possible that the meaning of the word evolved from “to pick out the best bits”, to “to think long and carefully in bewilderment while choosing what to pick out”, to “to think long and carefully in bewilderment”. However, there is no evidence in Middle English or modern English of any intermediate words with these meanings. * Alternatively, it has been suggested that the word is from pose (“(obsolete) to interrogate, question”) + -le (frequentative suffix). However, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that early forms of the word are all spelled with -u-, and that a sound change in Middle English from ō to u “is not easily accounted for”. * Finally, it has been suggested that the past participle form of the word is attested by Middle English poselet. This is thought to be unlikely by the Oxford English Dictionary as poselet is attested in only one quotation with the meaning “jostled, pushed”, which does not have any connection with the current senses of the word. The noun appears to be derived from the verb.

191 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Albanian: enigmë — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Arabic: لُغْز (luḡz) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Arabic: مُعْضِلَة (muʕḍila) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Arabic: أُحْجِيَّة (ʔuḥjiyya) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Armenian: առեղծված (aṙeġcvac) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Armenian: գլուխկոտրուկ (gluxkotruk) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Armenian: հանելուկ (haneluk) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Azerbaijani: müəmma — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Bashkir: башватҡыс (başvatqıs) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Belarusian: зага́дка (zahádka) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Bengali: ধাঁধা (dhãdha) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Bengali: সমস্যা (śomosśa) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Bhojpuri: पहेली (pahēlī) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Bulgarian: зага́дка (zagádka) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Burmese: အမေးပုစ္ဆာ (a.me:puchca) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Burmese: စကားထာ (ca.ka:hta) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Burmese: ပဟေဠိ (pa.heli.) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Catalan: trencaclosques — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Chinese Mandarin: 謎 /谜 — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Chinese Mandarin: 難題 /难题 (nántí) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Czech: záhada — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Danish: gåde — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Dutch: mysterie — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Dutch: raadsel — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Estonian: mõistatus — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Finnish: arvoitus — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• French: énigme — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• French: mystère — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Georgian: თავსატეხი (tavsaṭexi) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• German: Rätsel — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Greek: γρίφος (grífos) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Greek: αίνιγμα (aínigma) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hebrew: חִידָה (khidá) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hindi: भेद (bhed) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hindi: मुअम्मा (muammā) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hindi: पहेली (pahelī) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hindi: रहस्य (rahasya) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hindi: राज़ (rāz) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hindi: समस्या (samasyā) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hungarian: rejtély — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Hungarian: talány — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Italian: mistero — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Italian: rompicapo — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Japanese: 難題 (nandai) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Japanese: 難問 (nanmon) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Japanese: 謎 (nazo) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Kazakh: жұмбақ (jūmbaq) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Khmer: បណ្ដៅ (bɑɑbɑndaw) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Khmer: ប្រស្នា (prɑɑsnaa) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Korean: 난제 (nanje) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Korean: 난문 (nanmun) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Korean: 수수께끼 (susukkekki) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Northern Kurdish: çiştan — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Northern Kurdish: muema — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Kyrgyz: табышмак (tabışmak) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Latvian: mīkla — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Latvian: noslēpums — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Lithuanian: mįslė — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Macedonian: за́гатка (zágatka) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Mongolian: оньсого (onʹsogo) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Mongolian: ᠣᠨᠢᠰᠤᠭ᠎ᠠ (onisuɣ-a) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Khiamniungan Naga: thǖyēu — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Norwegian Bokmål: gåte — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Pashto: معما (ma'mã) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Iranian Persian: چیسْتان (čistân) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Iranian Persian: مُعَمَّا (mo'ammâ) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Iranian Persian: لُغَز (loġaz) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Polish: zagadka — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Portuguese: enigma — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Romanian: enigmă — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Russian: зага́дка (zagádka) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Russian: затрудне́ние (zatrudnénije) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Sanskrit: प्रहेलिका (prahelikā) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Scottish Gaelic: dubh-fhacal — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Serbo-Croatian: за̏гоне̄тка — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Serbo-Croatian: zȁgonētka — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Slovak: záhada — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Slovene: uganka — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Spanish: enigma — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Spanish: rompecabezas — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Swedish: gåta — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Swedish: mysterium — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Tajik: чистон (čiston) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Tajik: муаммо (muammo) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Tatar: башваткыч (başwatqıç) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Tatar: табышмак (tabışmaq) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Thai: ปริศนา (bprìt-sà-nǎa) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Turkish: bulmaca — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Turkish: muamma — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Ukrainian: зага́дка (zahádka) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Urdu: مُعَمَّا (mu'ammā) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Urdu: پَہیلی (pahelī) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Urdu: راز (rāz) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Urdu: بھید (bhed) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Uyghur: تېپىشماق (tëpishmaq) — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Uzbek: chiston — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Uzbek: jumboq — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Uzbek: muammo — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Uzbek: topishmoq — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Vietnamese: sự bối rối — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Vietnamese: sự khó xử — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Welsh: pos — thing which is difficult to make sense of or understand
• Arabic: بَازْل (bāzl) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Arabic: لُغْز (luḡz) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Arabic: أُحْجِيَّة (ʔuḥjiyya) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Armenian: գլուխկոտրուկ (gluxkotruk) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Bashkir: башватҡыс (başvatqıs) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Belarusian: галавало́мка (halavalómka) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Bulgarian: главоблъ́сканица (glavoblǎ́skanica) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Bulgarian: пъ́зел (pǎ́zel) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Catalan: trencaclosques — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Chinese Mandarin: 猜謎游戲 /猜谜游戏 — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Chinese Mandarin: 智力游戲 /智力游戏 (zhìlì yóuxì) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Czech: hlavolam — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Dutch: puzzel — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Dutch: hersenbreker — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Dutch: raadsel — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Estonian: mõistatus — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Finnish: pähkinä — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Finnish: pulma — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Finnish: tehtävä — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• French: puzzle — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• French: casse-tête — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• French: jeu de patience — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Georgian: თავსატეხი თამაში (tavsaṭexi tamaši) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• German: Puzzle — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• German: Geduldspiel — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• German: Geduldsspiel — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Greek: γρίφος (grífos) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Hungarian: fejtörő — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Hungarian: rejtvény — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Hungarian: türelemjáték — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Icelandic: púsl — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Indonesian: tebakan — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Irish: fadhb — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Irish: puzal — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Irish: tomhas — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Italian: rompicapo — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Japanese: パズル (pazuru) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Khmer: ល្បែងផ្គុំរូប (lbaengphkumruup) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Korean: 퍼즐 (peojeul) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Korean: 짝맞추기 (jjangmatchugi) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Lithuanian: galvosūkis — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Macedonian: за́гатка (zágatka) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Māori: panga — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Iranian Persian: پازِل (pâzel) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Polish: łamigłówka — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Portuguese: desafio — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Portuguese: quebra-cabeça — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Russian: пазл (pazl) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Russian: головоло́мка (golovolómka) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Serbo-Croatian: за̏гоне̄тка — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Serbo-Croatian: zȁgonētka — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Slovak: hlavolam — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Slovene: uganka — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Spanish: puzle — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Spanish: rompecabezas — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Swedish: pussel — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Thai: ปริศนา (bprìt-sà-nǎa) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Turkish: bulmaca — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Ukrainian: пазл (pazl) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Ukrainian: головоло́мка (holovolómka) — game or toy, or problem, requiring some effort to complete or work out, which is intended as a pastime and/or to test one’s mental ability
• Arabic: حَيَّرَ (ḥayyara) — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Bulgarian: обърквам (obǎrkvam) — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Bulgarian: озадачавам (ozadačavam) — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Dutch: in de war brengen — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Dutch: verbijsteren — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Dutch: verwarren — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Finnish: askarruttaa — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• German: durcheinander bringen — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• German: verwirren — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Māori: whakapōkaikaha — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Māori: whakapōkīkī — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Portuguese: confundir — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Portuguese: desconcertar — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Portuguese: intrigar — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Serbo-Croatian: сме̏сти — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Serbo-Croatian: збу́нити — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Serbo-Croatian: smȅsti — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Serbo-Croatian: zbúniti — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Spanish: dejar perplejo — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Spanish: desconcertar — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Spanish: intrigar — (transitive) to cause (oneself, or someone or their mind, etc.) to feel confused or mystified because they cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Finnish: pähkäillä — (transitive) to use (one’s brain or mind) to try to work out a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; to try to work out (a complicated matter, a problem, etc.)
• Finnish: pohdiskella — (transitive) to use (one’s brain or mind) to try to work out a complicated matter, a problem, etc.; to try to work out (a complicated matter, a problem, etc.)
• Finnish: askarruttaa — (intransitive) to feel confused or mystified because one cannot understand a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Finnish: pähkäillä — (intransitive) to think deeply in bewilderment to try to work out a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Finnish: pohdiskella — (intransitive) to think deeply in bewilderment to try to work out a complicated matter, a problem, etc.
• Finnish: haeskella — (intransitive) to search in a confused or mystified manner
• Finnish: koluta — (intransitive) to search in a confused or mystified manner
• Finnish: ratkaista — (intransitive) to solve a complicated matter, a problem, etc., by working through confusing or difficult matters