おもしい : omoshii | define meaning

Cognate to Hokkaido, Ibaraki and Toyama おもしい omoshii; Niigata おもっしぇ omosshe; Toyama おもっしい omosshii; Kansai, Chubu and Chugoku おもろい omoroi; Tokushima おもっしょい omosshoi; Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Kagoshima おもしろか omoshiroka; Kagoshima おもして omoshite and おもしとか omoshitoka; Okinawa うむっさん umussan; Miyako んむっし nmusshi; Yaeyama むさは musaha; and standard Japanese おもしろい【面白い】 omoshiroi "interesting; entertaining; funny; curious; strange". Attested since the 6th century. Historically meaning "magnificent", "enjoyable", "interesting" and "strange". Origin unclear. Possibly a compound of おも【面】 omo "face; front; exterior; surface" and しろし【白し】 shiroshi "white; bright", with a semantic shift from "bright front [view]", to "magnificent [view]", to "enjoyable", to "interesting" and "amusing". Alternatively related to めずらしい【珍しい】 mezurashii "unusual; rare" (cf. Amami mïzïraa and Okinoerabu mijirashan "interesting").