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please

[ pleez ]

/ pliz /

|||

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR please ON THESAURUS.COM

WATCH NOW: Why Are We Always Trying To Teach Kids To Say "Please"?

WATCH NOW: Why Are We Always Trying To Teach Kids To Say "Please"?

Is there anything cuter than a kid saying please? But, why is it one of the first things that we teach them to say?

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adverb

(used as a polite addition to requests, commands, etc.) if you would be so obliging; kindly: Please come here. Will you please turn the radio off?

verb (used with object), pleased, pleas·ing.

to act to the pleasure or satisfaction of: to please the public.

to be the pleasure or will of: May it please your Majesty.

verb (used without object), pleased, pleas·ing.

to like, wish, or feel inclined: Go where you please.

to give pleasure or satisfaction; be agreeable: manners that please.

Nearby words

Idioms

if you please,

if it be your pleasure; if you like or prefer.
(used as an exclamation expressing astonishment, indignation, etc.): The missing letter was in his pocket, if you please!

Origin of please

1275–1325; (v.) Middle English plesen, plaisen < Middle French plaisir ≪ Latin placēre to please, seem good (see placid); the use of please with requests, etc., is presumably a reduction of the clause (it) please you may it please you, later reinforced by imperative use of intransitive please to be pleased, wish

SYNONYMS FOR please

4. choose, desire, prefer.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR please ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

pleas·a·ble, adjectivepleas·ed·ly

[plee-zid-lee, pleezd-] /ˈpli zɪd li, ˈplizd-/, adverbpleas·ed·ness, nounpleas·er, noun

half-pleased, adjectiveout·please, verb (used with object), out·pleased, out·pleas·ing.o·ver·please, verb, o·ver·pleased, o·ver·pleas·ing.self-pleased, adjectiveself-pleas·er, nounun·pleas·a·ble, adjectiveun·pleased, adjectivewell-pleased, adjective

Can be confusedpleas please

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for please

“Please, please do not permit this to happen here in Florida,” wrote Cris K. Smith of East Polk County.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“Please,” he laughed, handing me the map after he was finished sketching.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind|Brin-Jonathan Butler|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Please, Your Excellencies, consider my case with justice and intervene on my behalf.
An American Marine in Iran’s Prisons Goes on Hunger Strike|IranWire|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Please know she has a very special place in our collective hearts.
The Mystery Death Of A Female Firefighter|Christopher Moraff|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I would nod, and we'd tell the St. Regis 'One more night, please.'
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Look here, Wolfson, you can like it or not, just as you please.
The Dual Alliance|Marjorie Benton Cooke
Good-night, Lady Peters; do not interrupt me again, if you please.
Wife in Name Only|Charlotte M. Braeme (Bertha M. Clay)
I thought the words so put together would please him, and I like to please him, he is good.
Charles Auchester, Volume 1 of 2|Elizabeth Sheppard
Tildy was dumpy, plain-faced, and too anxious to please to please.
The Four Million|O. Henry
If you think it necessary, let me know when you sell; but, however, do as you please.
Private Letters of Edward Gibbon (1753-1794) Volume 1 (of 2)|Edward Gibbon

British Dictionary definitions for please

please

/ (pliːz) /

verb

to give satisfaction, pleasure, or contentment to (a person); make or cause (a person) to be glad

to be the will of or have the will (to)if it pleases you; the court pleases

if you please if you will or wish, sometimes used in ironic exclamation

pleased with happy because of

please oneself to do as one likes

adverb

(sentence modifier) used in making polite requests and in pleading, asking for a favour, etcplease don't tell the police where I am

yes please a polite formula for accepting an offer, invitation, etc

Derived Formspleasable, adjectivepleased, adjectivepleasedly (ˈpliːzɪdlɪ), adverbpleaser, noun

Word Origin for please

C14 plese, from Old French plaisir, from Latin placēre to please, satisfy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for please

please

v.

early 14c., "to be agreeable," from Old French plaisir "to please, give pleasure to, satisfy" (11c., Modern French plaire, the form of which is perhaps due to analogy of faire), from Latin placere "to be acceptable, be liked, be approved," related to placare "to soothe, quiet" (source of Spanish placer, Italian piacere), possibly from PIE *plak-e- "to be calm," via notion of still water, etc., from root *plak- (1) "to be flat" (see placenta).

Meaning "to delight" in English is from late 14c. Inverted use for "to be pleased" is from c.1500, first in Scottish, and paralleling the evolution of synonymous like (v.). Intransitive sense (e.g. do as you please) first recorded c.1500; imperative use (e.g. please do this), first recorded 1620s, was probably a shortening of if it please (you) (late 14c.). Related: Pleased; pleasing; pleasingly.

Verbs for "please" supply the stereotype polite word (e.g. "Please come in," short for may it please you to ...) in many languages (French, Italian), "But more widespread is the use of the first singular of a verb for 'ask, request' " [Buck, who cites German bitte, Polish proszę, etc.]. Spanish favor is short for hace el favor "do the favor." Danish has in this sense vær saa god, literally "be so good."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with please

please

see as you please.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.