please English · revision 1801

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1303 (Handlyng Synne)|origins=ine-pro *plāk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pliːz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|plesen]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD) [[bor|fro|plaisir|t=to please, give pleasure to, satisfy]], [[m|fro|plesir]] (modern [[fr|plaire]]),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[la|placēre|t=to be acceptable, be liked or approved]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD) related to [[m|la|plācāre|t=to soothe, quiet]] (see [[placate]]),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*plāk-|t=to be pleasant, agree]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline) Etymonline compares Tocharian plak- “to agree”,^(Etymonline)^(Partridge 1966) and Merriam-Webster and Weekley relate the root to [[grc|πλάξ|tr=pláx|t=flat surface]].^(MWU 2024)^(Weekley 1921) Merriam-Webster gives the Anglo-French source as [[xno|plaisir]], [[m|xno|pleire]].^(MW Collegiate) The modern French form ''plaire'' is perhaps due to the analogy of [[m|fr|faire]];^(Etymonline) the old infinitive ''plaisir'' survives as a noun and gave English [[pleasure]].^(Weekley 1921)^(Skeat 1911)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To satisfy, placate or appease, especially God (about 1303, in Mannyng's ''Handlyng Synne'').^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the mid-14th century ''please'' meant “to satisfy a person, be agreeable to”, and by the late 14th century “to delight, amuse”;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) the sense “to appease, propitiate” died out in the 16th century.^(HTOED) The verb originally governed a dative, as in ''please God'' and in impersonal constructions such as ''if it please you'', common from the mid-14th century;^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921)^(Hoad 1986) in ''if you please'' the original dative ''you'' came to be taken as the subject, the same inversion seen in [[like]].^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) The intransitive sense “to like, choose”, as in ''do as you please'', dates from about 1500, in Dunbar's poems.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The polite imperative ''please'' grew out of ''may it please you'', ''please you'' (in Shakespeare, 1600) and ''please to'' (1620s);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) according to the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins Shakespeare did not know ''please'' on its own.^(Cresswell 2021) The adverb used in requests is dated 1667 by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate, but 1771 by the Unabridged and the Historical Thesaurus.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED) ''Please'' as a scornful exclamation of disbelief (''oh, please'') is a later use.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1303 – ''plesen'', to satisfy, appease.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – to be agreeable to; impersonal ''it pleases''.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1380 – to delight.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1500 – intransitive, to like, choose.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530 – ''if you please''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1600 – ''please you'', in Shakespeare.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1620s – ''please to'' with an imperative.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1667 – as an adverb in polite requests.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1771 – the same use, in the Unabridged and HTOED.^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To give [[pleasure]] or satisfaction to; to make glad.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To give pleasure or satisfaction; to be [[agreeable]]: ''eager to please''.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To wish or think fit: ''do as you please''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(formal)'' To be the will of: ''may it please the court''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # To gratify oneself; to do as one likes (''please yourself'').^(COED 2004)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Used to make a request polite or emphatic: ''please come in''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Used to accept an offer politely: ''yes, please''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Used to express scorn or disbelief: ''oh, please''.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pleaser]]

+ * [[pleasable]]

+ * [[pleasedness]]

+ * [[outplease]]

+ * [[overplease]]

+ * [[pleasing]]

+ * [[displease]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pleasant]]

+ * [[pleasurable]]

+ * [[pleasure]]

+ * [[placate]]

+ * [[placid]]

+ * [[placebo]]

+ * [[complacent]]

+ * [[complaisant]]

+ * [[implacable]]

+ * [[plea]]

+ * [[plead]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary groups ''please'' with ''delight'', ''gladden'', ''gratify'' and ''tickle'', all meaning to give pleasure to someone.^(AHD) The proverbs ''you can't please everyone'' and ''little things please little minds'' go back to the late 15th and late 16th centuries.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}