Although both words once held similar meanings—to beguile, delude, muddle, stupefy—amuse, by the early 1600s, came to mean to divert attention with entertainment and, by the 1700s, to entertain, to tickle. Bemuse, however, retains its original sense and still means to puzzle, confuse, bewilder. A funny joke may amuse its audience, a difficult puzzle might bemuse its audience. Though the two words stem from similar etymological roots, do not mistake them as synonyms. They are now functionally unrelated.