early 15c., "stupefactive;" 1590s, "dreadful;" present-participle adjective from amaze. The sense of "wonderful" is recorded from 1704. Related: Amazingly; amazingness.
Entries linking to amazing
amaze v.
"overwhelm or confound with sudden surprise or wonder," 1580s, a back-formation from Middle English amased "stunned, dazed, bewildered," (late 14c.), earlier "stupefied, irrational, foolish" (c. 1200), from Old English amasod, from a- (1), probably used here as an intensive prefix, + *mæs (see maze). Related: Amazed; amazing.