Etymologically
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pleasure

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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

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