Meaning

noun the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you

noun a sudden unexpected event

noun the act of surprising someone

originFrom Middle English surprise, borrowed from Middle French surprise (“an overtake”), nominal use of the past participle of Old French sorprendre (“to overtake”), from sor- (“over”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin super- + Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere (“to grasp, seize”). Doublet of suppli.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0