please

please

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of please in English

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)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to.
  2. (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)

  1. Used to make a polite request.
  2. Used as an affirmative to an offer.
  3. 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

  1. (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

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.