fun

1) The noun has not been found earlier than <i>a</i>.1700, when it was used of a hoax or practical joke, although not long afterwards it referred to the amusement or pleasure caused by such diversions.

It is thought to have derived from a verb ‘to fon or fun’ which meant to cheat or trick and it is recorded in this sense from 1685, ‘She had fun’d him of his Coin’. It is intriguing therefore to note the following by-name, possibly a nickname for a notorious trickster: 1658 John Fun otherwise Funn John of Bingley, labourer, convicted of one prophane oath.

places Bingley
dates 1658

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