indulge

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin indulgeō (“to be kind or complaisant, to yield; to grant as a favour”).^[2][3][4][5] Barnhart and Etymonline think it was partly a back-formation from the older English nouns indulgence and indulgent,^[6][7] and the OED notes that their earlier use prepared the way for the verb.^[2] The Latin verb is formed from in- and a second element that is of uncertain origin.^[4][6][5] Merriam-Webster takes it as probably related to Old English tulge (“firmly, well”), Old Saxon tulgo (“very”), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌻𐌲𐌿𐍃 (tulgus, “firm, steadfast”) and Ancient Greek δολιχός (dolikhós, “long”), with a basic meaning "long, enduring";^[4][8][9] the American Heritage Dictionary refers it to Proto-Indo-European *dlegh-.^[3] Ayto suggests that the Latin verb may at first have meant "allow long enough for", though its recorded senses are already those of the English word.^[10] Chambers instead connects it with dulcis (“sweet”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To grant or bestow something as a favour: about 1623 in Merriam-Webster and the Concise Barnhart,^[4][12] 1638 in the OED and the full Barnhart, which glosses it "yield to the wishes of; humour".^[2][6] Etymonline dates "to grant as a favour" to the 1630s.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb was taken over in the 17th century in several of the Latin senses.^[2] The Church sense of indulgence, a remission of punishment for sin, is much older in English, recorded before 1376 in Piers Plowman,^[6][13] and indulgent dates from 1509.^[6] By the 1650s the verb meant to treat a person or a desire with unearned favour;^[7][2] Hoad dates "gratify by compliance" and "give free course to" to the 17th century, and "take one's pleasure freely in" to the 18th.^[5] The intransitive indulge in, short for indulge oneself in, is recorded from 1706,^[2] and the colloquial sense "to drink freely" from before 1718.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to fondle; to favour; to gratify with concession; to foster".^[14] In commerce it has meant since 1766 to give a debtor more time to meet a bill,^[2][8] while the sense "grant as a favour" is now rare or archaic.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1623 – first known use, in Merriam-Webster.^[4][12]
• 1638 – to bestow or grant as a favour.^[2][6]
• 1656 – to gratify or give way to a desire.^[2]
• 1659 – reflexive, to indulge oneself.^[2]
• 1660 – to treat a person with undeserved favour.^[2]
• 1662 – to grant an indulgence or dispensation to.^[2]
• 1706 – indulge in, to give free course to one's liking for.^[2]
• before 1718 – colloquially, to drink freely.^[2]
• 1766 – in commerce, to give more time for paying a bill.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give way to or satisfy a desire, whim or taste: He indulged his love of old trains.^[8][4][3]
2. To yield to the wishes of someone, often too readily; to pamper: They indulged their grandson on every visit.^[8][3][2]
3. To allow oneself a pleasure; often indulge in: We indulged in a long lunch by the river.^[8][2][3]
4. (informal) To drink alcohol, especially too much.^[8][2]
5. (commerce) To allow a debtor extra time to pay a bill.^[8][2]
6. (Roman Catholic Church) To grant an indulgence or dispensation to.^[3][2]
7. (archaic) To grant something as a favour.^[4][2]

Word family

• indulger
• indulgingly
• overindulge
• reindulge

Related words

• indulgence
• indulgent
• indult

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
12. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.