enjoyment or satisfaction derived from what is to one's liking; gratification; delight.
3.
worldly or frivolous enjoyment: the pursuit of pleasure.
4.
recreation or amusement; diversion; enjoyment: Are you traveling on business or for pleasure?
5.
sensual gratification.
6.
a cause or source of enjoyment or delight: It was a pleasure to see you.
7.
pleasurable quality: the pleasure of his company.
8.
one's will, desire, or choice: to make known one's pleasure.
–verb (used with object)
9.
to give pleasure to; gratify; please.
–verb (used without object)
10.
to take pleasure; delight: I pleasure in your company.
11.
to seek pleasure, as by taking a holiday.
[Origin: 1325–75; late ME (see please, -ure); r. ME plaisir < MF (n. use of inf.) < L placére to please]
—Related forms
pleas·ure·ful, adjective
pleas·ure·less, adjective
pleas·ure·less·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. happiness, gladness, delectation. Pleasure,enjoyment,delight,joy refer to the feeling of being pleased and happy. Pleasure is the general term: to take pleasure in beautiful scenery. Enjoyment is a quiet sense of well-being and pleasurable satisfaction: enjoyment at sitting in the shade on a warm day. Delight is a high degree of pleasure, usually leading to active expression of it: delight at receiving a hoped-for letter. Joy is a feeling of delight so deep and so lasting that one radiates happiness and expresses it spontaneously: joy at unexpected good news. 5. voluptuousness. 8. preference, wish, inclination, predilection.
1390, "condition of enjoyment," from O.Fr. plesir "enjoyment, delight" (12c.), from plaisir (v.) "to please," from L. placere (see please (v.)). Ending alt. in Eng. 14c. by infl. of words in -ure (measure, etc.). Meaning "sensual enjoyment as the chief object of life" is attested from 1526. The verb meaning "to give pleasure to" is recorded from c.1559; sexual sense by c.1616.
Pleasure Ridge Park, KY (CDP, FIPS 61752) Location: 38.15370 N, 85.85287 W Population (1990): 25131 (9538 housing units) Area: 20.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Please\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pleased; p. pr. & vb. n. Pleasing.] [OE. plesen, OF. plaisir, fr. L. placere, akin to placare to reconcile. Cf. Complacent, Placable, Placid, Plea, Plead, Pleasure.]1. To give pleasure to; to excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to make glad; to gratify; to content; to satisfy. I pray to God that it may plesen you. --Chaucer. What next I bring shall please thee, be assured. --Milton. 2. To have or take pleasure in; hence, to choose; to wish; to desire; to will. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he. --Ps. cxxxv. 6. A man doing as he wills, and doing as he pleases, are the same things in common speech. --J. Edwards. 3. To be the will or pleasure of; to seem good to; -- used impersonally. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." --Col. i. 19. To-morrow, may it please you. --Shak. To be pleased in or with, to have complacency in; to take pleasure in. To be pleased to do a thing, to take pleasure in doing it; to have the will to do it; to think proper to do it. --Dryden.
Pleas"ure\, n. [F. plaisir, originally an infinitive. See Please.]1. The gratification of the senses or of the mind; agreeable sensations or emotions; the excitement, relish, or happiness produced by the expectation or the enjoyment of something good, delightful, or satisfying; -- opposed to pain, sorrow, etc. At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. --Ps. xvi. 11. 2. Amusement; sport; diversion; self-indulgence; frivolous or dissipating enjoyment; hence, sensual gratification; -- opposed to labor, service, duty, self-denial, etc. "Not sunk in carnal pleasure." --Milton. He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man. --Prov. xxi. 17. Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. --2 Tim. iii. 4. 3. What the will dictates or prefers as gratifying or satisfying; hence, will; choice; wish; purpose. "He will do his pleasure on Babylon." --Isa. xlviii. 14. Use your pleasure; if your love do not presuade you to come, let not my letter. --Shak. 4. That which pleases; a favor; a gratification. --Shak. Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure --Acts xxv. 9. At pleasure, by arbitrary will or choice. --Dryden. To take pleasure in, to have enjoyment in. --Ps. cxlvii. 11. Note: Pleasure is used adjectively, or in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, pleasure boat, pleasure ground; pleasure house, etc. Syn: Enjoyment; gratification; satisfaction; comfort; solace; joy; gladness; delight; will; choice; preference; purpose; command; favor; kindness.
Pleas"ure\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pleasured; p. pr. & vb. n. Pleasuring.] To give or afford pleasure to; to please; to gratify. --Shak. [Rolled] his hoop to pleasure Edith. --Tennyson.
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