pleasure

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 placēre (“to please, to seem good”), from the Proto-Indo-European *plā-k- (“wide and flat”). Related to Dutch plezier (“pleasure, fun”). More at please.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈplɛʒə/, /ˈplezjʊə/
• (General American) enPR: plĕzhʹər, IPA^(key): /ˈplɛʒɚ/

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• Rhymes: -ɛʒə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: pleas‧ure

pleasure (countable and uncountable, plural pleasures)

1. (uncountable) 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.

   • 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.

2. (countable) 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.

   • Bible, Acts xxv. 9

     Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:

     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.

   • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:

     In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. […]

3. (uncountable) One's preference.

   What is your pleasure: coffee or tea?

4. (formal, uncountable) 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

   • Bible, Isaiah xlviii. 14

     He will do his pleasure on Babylon.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     Use your pleasure; if your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter.

• (state of mind) delight, gladness, gratification, happiness, indulgence, satisfaction
• (person or thing that causes enjoyment): delight, joy
• (preference) desire, fancy, want, will, wish
• (will or desire of party in power) discretion

• pain
• displeasure

pleasure

1. pleased to meet you

pleasure (third-person singular simple present pleasures, present participle pleasuring, simple past and past participle pleasured)

1. (transitive) To give or afford pleasure to; to please; to gratify.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

   • (Can we date this quote?) Tennyson

     [Rolled] his hoop to pleasure Edith.

2. (transitive) To give sexual pleasure to.

   Johnny pleasured Jackie orally last night.

3. (intransitive, dated) To take pleasure; to seek or pursue pleasure.

   to go pleasuring

• displeasure
• please
• pleasant

• pleasure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pleasure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• serpulae