English Online Dictionary. What means please? What does please mean?
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pliːz/
- (General American) enPR: plēz, IPA(key): /pliz/
- Rhymes: -iːz
- Homophone: pleas
Etymology 1
From Middle English plesen, plaisen, borrowed from Old French plaise, conjugated form of plaisir or plaire, from Latin placeō (“to please, to seem good”), from the Proto-Indo-European *pleHk- (“pleasingness, permission”). In this sense, displaced native Old English līcian, whence Modern English like.
Alternative forms
- pleace (used from the Middle English period up to the 15th century, and in Scots until the 17th century)
- plaise
Verb
please (third-person singular simple present pleases, present participle pleasing, simple past and past participle pleased)
- (transitive, intransitive) To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to.
- (intransitive, ergative) To desire; to will; to be pleased by.
Conjugation
Synonyms
- (to make happy): satisfy
- (to desire): desire, will
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “to make happy”): annoy, irritate, disgust, displease
Derived terms
Related terms
- pleasant
- pleasurable
- pleasure
Descendants
- → Dutch: pleasen
Translations
Etymology 2
Short for if you please, an intransitive, ergative form taken from if it please you which is a calque of French s’il vous plaît, which replaced pray.
Alternative forms
- (for the exaggerated way it is often pronounced as the expression of annoyance) puh-lease
Adverb
please (not comparable)
- Used to make a polite request.
- Used as an affirmative to an offer.
- An expression of annoyance, impatience or exasperation.
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Bengali: প্লিজ (plij), প্লীজ (plij)
- → Finnish: pliis (colloquial)
- → Hindi: प्लीज़ (plīz) (urban, colloquial)
Translations
Etymology 3
Semantic loan from German bitte (“please; excuse me”).
Interjection
please
- (Cincinnati) Said as a request to repeat information.
Synonyms
- (request to repeat): what, excuse me, pardon me, come again; see also Thesaurus:say again
References
Anagrams
- Sapele, asleep, elapse, sapele