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English
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.
Pronunciation
Noun
pleasure (countable and uncountable, plural pleasures)
- (uncountable) A state of being pleased or contented; gratification.
- Synonyms: delight, gladness, gratification, happiness, indulgence, satisfaction
- Antonyms: displeasure, pain
He remembered with pleasure his home and family.
I get a lot of pleasure from watching others work hard while I relax.
2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport: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.
2019, Toro y Moi (lyrics and music), “Ordinary Pleasure”, in Outer Peace:Maximize all the pleasure / Even with all this weather / Nothing can make it better / Maximize all the pleasure
- (countable) A person, thing or action that causes enjoyment.
- Synonyms: delight, joy
It was a pleasure to meet you.
Having a good night's sleep is one of life's little pleasures.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
- (uncountable) Sexual enjoyment.
- (uncountable) One's preference.
- Synonyms: desire, fancy, want, will, wish
What is your pleasure: coffee or tea?
- (formal, uncountable) The will or desire of someone or some agency in power.
- Synonym: discretion
to hold an office at pleasure: to hold it indefinitely until it is revoked
at Congress's pleasure: whenever or as long as Congress desires
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:Use your pleasure; if your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter.
Derived terms
- antipleasure
- at Her Majesty's pleasure, at His Majesty's pleasure
- at one's pleasure, at pleasure
- business before pleasure
- do someone a pleasure
- do someone the pleasure of
- during Her Majesty's pleasure, during His Majesty's pleasure
- during one's pleasure, during pleasure
- end-pleasure
- English pleasure
- fore-pleasure
- gold of pleasure, gold-of-pleasure, gold-pleasure
- guilty pleasure
- have the pleasure
- it's a pleasure
- lady of pleasure
- live at Her Majesty's pleasure
- man of pleasure
- mix business with pleasure
- my pleasure
- oral pleasure
- pleasurable
- pleasurance
- pleasure barge
- pleasure boat
- pleasure-carriage
- pleasure center, pleasure centre
- pleasure craft
- pleasure cruise
- pleasure curve
- pleasured
- pleasure dome
- pleasuredrome
- pleasureful
- pleasure garden
- pleasure-giving
- pleasure ground
- pleasurehood
- pleasure house
- pleasureless
- pleasure-loving
- pleasurement
- pleasure moment
- pleasuremonger
- pleasure of someone's company
- pleasure-pain principle
- pleasure principle
- pleasurer
- pleasure-seeker
- pleasure seeker
- pleasure-seeking
- pleasures of the flesh
- pleasures of the table
- pleasure steamer
- pleasure trip
- pleasure-unpleasure principle
- pleasuring
- pleasurist
- pleasurous
- self-pleasure
- sexual pleasure
- take pleasure
- the pleasure is all mine, the pleasure's all mine
- the pleasure is mine, the pleasure's mine
- to one's pleasure, to pleasure
- to what do I owe the pleasure
- unpleasure
- western pleasure
- what's your pleasure
- with pleasure
- woman of pleasure
Translations
a state of being pleased
- Albanian: kënaqësi (sq) f
- American Sign Language: OpenB@Chest-PalmBack RoundSurface
- Arabic: مُتْعَة f (mutʕa), لَذَّة f (laḏḏa)
- Armenian: հաճույք (hy) (hačuykʿ)
- Aromanian: plãtseare f
- Azerbaijani: həzz (az)
- Basque: atsegin
- Belarusian: задавальне́нне n (zadavalʹnjénnje), прые́мнасць f (pryjémnascʹ)
- Bengali: নন্দ (bn) (nondo)
- Bulgarian: удово́лствие (bg) n (udovólstvie), насла́да (bg) f (nasláda)
- Catalan: plaer (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 歡樂/欢乐 (zh) (huānlè), 樂趣/乐趣 (zh) (lèqù)
- Czech: potěšení (cs) m, rozkoš (cs) f, slast (cs) f
- Danish: fornøjelse c, behag n
- Dutch: plezier (nl) n, genoegen (nl) n, welbehagen (nl) n
- Esperanto: plezuro (eo), agrableco
- Estonian: lõbu
- Finnish: mielihyvä (fi), nautinto (fi), ilo (fi)
- French: plaisir (fr) m
- Galician: pracer (gl) m
- Georgian: სიამოვნება (siamovneba)
- German: Vergnügen (de) n
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌾𐍉𐌸𐌿𐍃 m (gabaurjōþus)
- Greek: ευχαρίστηση (el) f (efcharístisi), απόλαυση (el) f (apólafsi)
- Ancient Greek: ἦδος n (êdos)
- Haitian Creole: plezi
- Hebrew: עונג \ עֹגֶג (he) m ('óneg)
- Hindi: आनन्द (hi) m (ānand)
- Hungarian: öröm (hu), élvezet (hu), gyönyörűség (hu), gyönyör (hu), kéj (hu) (the latter two often imply sexual pleasure)
- Indonesian: kesenangan (id)
- Interlingua: placer
- Irish: pléisiúr m
- Italian: piacere (it) m, piacimento m, goduria (it) f
- Japanese: 喜び (ja) (よろこび, yorokobi), 快感 (ja) (かいかん, kaikan)
- Korean: 쾌락 (ko) (kwaerak), 환락 (ko) (hwallak), 기쁨 (ko) (gippeum), 즐거움 (ko) (jeulgeoum)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: خۆشی (xoşî)
- Latgalian: prīca
- Latin: iucunditas f, delectatio f, oblectatio f, delectamentum n, gaudium n, dulcedo f
- Latvian: prieks (lv) m
- Ligurian: piâxéi m
- Lithuanian: malonumas m
- Lombard: piasé (lmo) m
- Luxembourgish: Plëséier m
- Macedonian: задоволство n (zadovolstvo)
- Maori: rēhia
- Mauritian Creole: jos
- Mongolian: баяр жаргал (bajar žargal)
- Norwegian: fornøyelse (no) m
- Occitan: plaser (oc) m
- Old English: lust m
- Persian: کیف (fa) (keyf), لذت (fa) (lezzat)
- Polish: przyjemność (pl) f
- Portuguese: prazer (pt) m
- Romanian: plăcere (ro) f
- Romansch: plaschair
- Russian: удово́льствие (ru) n (udovólʹstvije)
- Sanskrit: आनन्द (sa) (ānanda)
- Scottish Gaelic: tlachd f, gàirdeachas m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: задово̀љство n, ужи́так m
- Roman: zadovòljstvo (sh) n, užítak (sh) m
- Seychellois Creole: plezir
- Slovak: potešenie n
- Slovene: užitek m
- Spanish: placer (es) m
- Swahili: anasa class 9/10
- Swedish: nöje (sv) n, behag (sv) n
- Tagalog: kaaliwan (tl), kalugdan
- Thai: ความปิติยินดี
- Tocharian B: wīna, yāso
- Turkish: zevk (tr), memnuniyet (tr)
- Ukrainian: задово́лення n (zadovólennja), приє́мність f (pryjémnistʹ)
- Urdu: آنند (ur) m (ānand)
- Vietnamese: niềm vui thích
- Welsh: bodd m, boddhâd m, hyfrydwch m, mwynhâd m, mwyniant m or f, pleser (cy) m
- Yiddish: הנאה f (hanoe), חיות f (khayes), עונג m (oyneg), תּענוג m (tayneg), פֿאַרגעניגן n (fargenign), וווילטאָג m (voyltog), נחת n or m (nakhes)
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person or thing that causes enjoyment
- Armenian: հաճույք (hy) (hačuykʿ)
- Azerbaijani: ləzzət (az), kef, hüsn (poetic), həzz (az), nəşə (az), səfa, zövq (az)
- Catalan: plaer (ca) m
- Esperanto: agrablaĵo
- Finnish: ilo (fi)
- French: plaisir (fr) m
- German: Freude (de) f, Spaß (de) m
- Hungarian: öröm (hu), élmény (hu), (for an activity) kedvtelés (hu), szórakozás (hu)
- Italian: piacere (it) m
- Ligurian: piâxéi m
- Luxembourgish: Plëséier m
- Portuguese: prazer (pt) m
- Russian: удово́льствие (ru) n (udovólʹstvije), наслажде́ние (ru) n (naslaždénije), удовлетворе́ние (ru) n (udovletvorénije), ра́дость (ru) f (rádostʹ), плотские радости (plotskije radosti), развлече́ние (ru) n (razvlečénije)
- Scottish Gaelic: tlachd f
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: задово̀љство n, ужи́так m
- Roman: zadovòljstvo (sh) n, užítak (sh) m
- Spanish: placer (es) m
- Ukrainian: утіха f (utixa), втіха (vtixa), розра́да (rozráda)
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the will or desire of someone or some agency in power
Translations to be checked: "one's preference"
Interjection
pleasure
- pleased to meet you, "It's my pleasure"
Verb
pleasure (third-person singular simple present pleasures, present participle pleasuring, simple past and past participle pleasured)
- (transitive) To give or afford pleasure to.
- Synonyms: please, gratify
1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., , →OCLC, page 55:[H]e / [...] / Had tost his ball and flown his kite, and roll'd / His hoop to pleasure Edith, [...]
- (transitive) To give sexual pleasure to.
Johnny pleasured Jackie with his mouth last night.
- (intransitive, dated) To take pleasure; to seek or pursue pleasure.
to go pleasuring
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Further reading
- “pleasure”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “pleasure”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams