pleasure

noun
/ˈplɛʒə/UK/ˈplɛʒɚ/US

Etymology

From Early Modern English pleasur, plesur, alteration (with ending accommodated to -ure) of Middle English plaisir (“pleasure”), from Old French plesir, plaisir (“to please”), infinitive used as a noun, conjugated form of plaisir or plaire, from Latin placeō (“to please, to seem good”), from the Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-k- (“wide and flat”). Related to Dutch plezier (“pleasure, fun”). More at please.

  1. derived from *pleh₂-k-
  2. derived from placeō — “to please, to seem good
  3. derived from plesir
  4. inherited from plaisir

Definitions

  1. A state of being pleased or contented

    A state of being pleased or contented; gratification.

    • He remembered with pleasure his home and family.
    • I get a lot of pleasure from watching others work hard while I relax.
    • But the only statistic that will concern West Brom will be the scoreline, and their manager Roy Hodgson will take considerable pleasure from a victory over the club he managed for just 191 days.
  2. A person, thing or action that causes enjoyment.

    • It was a pleasure to meet you.
    • Having a good night's sleep is one of life's little pleasures.
    • Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure
  3. Sexual enjoyment.

  4. + 6 more definitions
    1. One's preference.

      • What is your pleasure: coffee or tea?
    2. The will or desire of someone or some agency in power.

      • to hold an office at pleasure: to hold it indefinitely until it is revoked
      • to be imprisoned at Her Majesty's pleasure: to be imprisoned indefinitely
      • at Congress's pleasure: whenever or as long as Congress desires
    3. pleased to meet you, "It's my pleasure"

    4. To give or afford pleasure to.

      • [H]e / [...] / Had tost his ball and flown his kite, and roll'd / His hoop to pleasure Edith, [...]
    5. To give sexual pleasure to.

      • Johnny pleasured Jackie with his mouth last night.
    6. To take pleasure

      To take pleasure; to seek or pursue pleasure.

      • to go pleasuring

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at pleasure. 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.

01pleasure02sexual03fact04further05distant06television07entertainment08enjoyment

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

8 hops · closes at pleasure

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