pleasure

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈpleʒ.ə/, US /ˈpleʒ.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English plesir,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French plesir (“enjoyment, delight, desire, will”), also plaisir (12th century),^[2][3] a noun use of the infinitive plaisir “to please”,^[2][4] from Latin placēre (“to please, give pleasure, be approved”).^[2] The ending was altered in Middle English under the influence of nouns in -ure such as measure.^[2][3][4] It is related to please.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

How one is pleased, one's will or desire, as in at one's pleasure: perhaps about 1368 in the OED;^[5] the late 14th century in Etymonline, also as a source of enjoyment.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The feeling of enjoyment or gratification is from 1390 in the OED^[5] and the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[2] Sensual gratification is from the early 15th century,^[2] and pleasure as the chief object of life, in an unfavourable sense, from 1526.^[5][2] The pleasure principle of psychology is from 1894.^[5] Spellings in -ure, such as plaisur and plesur, appear about 1440.^[5] The verb meant “to take pleasure in” in the 1530s,^[2] “to give pleasure to” from the 1550s,^[2][5] with a sexual sense by the 1610s.^[2][6]

Timeline

• ?c. 1368 – one's will or desire.^[5]
• 1390 – the feeling of enjoyment.^[5]
• early 15th century – sensual gratification.^[2]
• c. 1440 – forms in -ure.^[5]
• 1526 – pleasure as an end in itself.^[5]
• 1550s – verb, to give pleasure to.^[2]
• 1894 – pleasure principle.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A feeling of enjoyment, satisfaction or delight.
2. A source of enjoyment: it was a pleasure to meet you.
3. Amusement or worldly enjoyment, as opposed to work: business or pleasure.
4. Sensual gratification.
5. (formal) One's wish or preference: at the king's pleasure.

Verb

1. To give pleasure, especially sexual pleasure, to.

Word family

• pleasureless
• pleasureful
• pleasurelessly

Related words

• displeasure
• please
• pleasant
• measure
• placid

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press