Contextualizebeta

please

verb
/pliːz/UK/pliz/US

Etymology

From Middle English plesen, plaisen, borrowed from Old French plaise, conjugated form of plaisir or plaire, from Latin placeō (“to please, to seem good”), from the Proto-Indo-European *pleHk- (“pleasingness, permission”). In this sense, displaced native Old English līcian, whence Modern English like.

  1. derived from *pleHk-✻ — “pleasingness, permission”
  2. derived from placeō — “to please, to seem good”
  3. derived from plaise
  4. inherited from plesen

Definitions

  1. To make happy or satisfy

    To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to.

    • Her presentation pleased the executives.
    • I'm pleased to see you've been behaving yourself.
    • Our new range of organic foods is sure to please.

  2. To desire

    To desire; to will; to be pleased by.

    • Just do as you please.
    • He doesn't think, he just says whatever he pleases.
    • Whatsoeuer the Lord pleased, that did he in heauen and in earth: in the Seas, and all deepe places.

  3. Used to make a polite request.

    • Please, pass the bread.
    • Would you please sign this form?
    • Could you tell me the time, please?
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. Used as an affirmative to an offer.

      • Near-synonym: thank you
      • May I help you? —(Yes,) please.
      • D'you mind if I open the window? —Please do.

    2. An expression of annoyance, impatience, or exasperation.

      • Oh, please, do we have to hear that again?
      • So it's safe to let a 10-year-old use a gun? Please.
      • So now I have to go back there a third time? Please!

    3. Said as a request to repeat information.

      • Customer while ordering: Can I get a [unintelligible]? Restaurant employee: Please?
      • Fellow: May I have a few days off to get married? Reply, in the Cincinnati idiom by a boss who had heard the sound but not the sense: Boss: Please?
      • Even though I heard it was supposed to be German-Catholic background, there’s only one thing German — they say ‘please’ [for the more common ‘pardon me’], which comes from bitte.

The neighborhood

Derived

as you please, crowdpleasing, displease, go-as-you-please, if it you please, misplease, outplease, overplease, pleasable, pleaseman, pleaser, please-time, please yourself, pleasing, pleasy, superplease, you cannot please everyone

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at please. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01please02happy03tranquillity04calm05noise06unwanted07undesirable

A definitional loop anchored at please. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at please

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA