please definition | Dictionary.com

please

[pleez]

adverb, verb, pleased, pleas⋅ing.

–adverb

1.	(used as a polite addition to requests, commands, etc.) if you would be so obliging; kindly: Please come here. Will you please turn the radio off?

–verb (used with object)

2.	to act to the pleasure or satisfaction of: to please the public.

3.	to be the pleasure or will of: May it please your Majesty.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to like, wish, or feel inclined: Go where you please.

5.	to give pleasure or satisfaction; be agreeable: manners that please.

—Idiom

if you please,

a.	if it be your pleasure; if you like or prefer.

b.	(used as an exclamation expressing astonishment, indignation, etc.): The missing letter was in his pocket, if you please!

Origin:
1275–1325; (v.) ME plesen, plaisen < MF plaisir ≪ L placēre to please, seem good (see placid ); the use of please with requests, etc., is presumably a reduction of the clause (it) please you may it please you, later reinforced by imper. use of intransit. please to be pleased, wish

Related forms:

pleas⋅a⋅ble, adjective

pleas⋅ed⋅ly [plee-zid-lee, pleezd-]

, adverb

pleas⋅ed⋅ness, noun

pleaser, noun

Synonyms:
4. choose, desire, prefer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To please

please (plēz)

v. pleased, pleas·ing, pleas·es

v. tr.

To give enjoyment, pleasure, or satisfaction to; make glad or contented.
To be the will or desire of: May it please the court to admit this firearm as evidence.

v. intr.

To give satisfaction or pleasure; be agreeable: waiters who try hard to please.
To have the will or desire; wish: Do as you please. Sit down, if you please.

adv.

If it is your desire or pleasure; if you please. Used in polite requests: Please stand back. Pay attention, please.
Yes. Used in polite affirmative replies to offers: May I help you? Please.

[Middle English plesen, from Old French plaisir; see pleasant.]
pleas'er n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to give pleasure to: was pleased by their success; a gift that would delight any child; praise that gladdens the spirit; progress that gratified all concerned; compliments that tickle their vanity.
Antonym: displease

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Please

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.

Please

Please\, v. i. 1. To afford or impart pleasure; to excite agreeable emotions.

What pleasing scemed, for her now pleases more. --Milton.

For we that live to please, must please to live. --Johnson.

2. To have pleasure; to be willing, as a matter of affording pleasure or showing favor; to vouchsafe; to consent.

Heavenly stranger, please to taste These bounties. --Milton.

That he would please 8give me my liberty. --Swift.

Language Translation for : please

Spanish: gustar, agradargustar, agradar,

German: zufriedenstellen,

Japanese:

More Translations »

please (v.)

c.1325, "to be agreeable," from O.Fr. plaisir (Fr. plaire) "to please," from L. placere "to be acceptable, be liked, be approved," related to placare "to soothe, quiet," from PIE base *p(e)lag- "to smooth, make even" (cf. Gk. plax, gen. plakos "level surface," plakoeis "flat;" Lett. plakt "to become flat;" O.N. flaga "layer of earth;" Norw. flag "open sea;" O.E. floh "piece of stone, fragment;" O.H.G. fluoh "cliff"). Intransitive sense (e.g. do as you please) first recorded 1500; imperative use (e.g. please do this), first recorded 1622, was probably a shortening of if it please (you) (1388). Verbs for "please" supply the stereotype polite word ("Please come in," short for may it please you to ...) in many languages (Fr., It.), "But more widespread is the use of the first singular of a verb for 'ask, request' " [Buck, who cites Ger. bitte, Pol. prasze, etc.] Sp. favor is short for hace el favor "do the favor." Dan. has in this sense vær saa god, lit. "be so good."

please

see as you please.

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