▪ I. please, v.
(pliːz)
Forms: 4–5 (Sc. 6–8) pleis(e, 4–6 pleys (Sc. pleyss), plese (Sc. ples, 4 pleece), 5 plaise, plase, place, 5–6 playse (Sc. pleiss, pless, erron. ple), 5– please, (6 pleace, pleas, plise, Sc. plaiss).
[ME. plaise, pleise, plese, a. OF. plais-ir (3 pl. pres. plaise-nt) = Pr. plazer, Sp. placer, Pg. prazer, It. piacere:—L. placēre to be pleasing or agreeable, f. root plac- in placidus gentle, mild, peaceful, placor contentment, satisfaction, plācāre to calm, soothe, still. The mod.F. infinitive plaire (12th c. in Littré) is a collateral form, repr. a pop. L. placĕre, plac're.]
I. † 1. a. intr. To be agreeable; to give pleasure or satisfaction. Const. to = F. plaire à, L. placēre with dative; with, etc. Obs.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter lii. 7 [liii. 5] For God wasted þe bones of þem þat plesen to men. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4729 In what maner þat i miȝt mest with þe plece. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 198 That Scottis men mycht do na thing That euir mycht pleyss to thar liking. 1382 Wyclif 1 Thess. iv. 1 As ȝe han resceyued of vs how it bihoueth ȝou for to go and plese to God. ― 1 Sam. xviii. 26 The word pleside in the eyen of Dauyd. c 1400 Prymer (1895) 50 Þat we mowe serue to þee wiþ chast bodi, & plese to þee wiþ clene herte. |
† b. to please to oneself, to take pleasure, be well pleased. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xlii. 1 Al plesede to hym in hym my soule [1388 my soule pleside to it silf in hym]. 1382 ― Wisd. vi. 3 Ȝiueth eres, ȝee that holden togidere multitudis, and plesen to ȝou [1388 plesen ȝou] in cumpanyes of naciouns. |
2. a. trans. To be agreeable to; to gratify, satisfy, delight.
The vb. was here orig. intr. as in 1, the object being a dative; but this not being formally distinct from an accusative or direct object, the vb. came at length to be viewed as transitive, and to have a passive voice (see 4). (It has no passive in Fr.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 68 Þe meyne in alle þing plesed him next the king. c 1350 Will. Palerne 188 Bliþe was eche a barn ho best miȝt him plese. 1388 Wyclif 1 Thess. iv. 1 Hou it behoueth ȝou to go and to plese God [1382 to God]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. i (1495) 296 We shall fle the worlde though he playse [Bodley MS. please] vs wyth welthe. Ibid. xviii. xiv. 774 An oxe herde plasyth the oxen wyth whystlynge and wyth songe. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues 5/6 Mais sil vous plaist aulcune chose Que ie puisse fayre: But if you plaise ony thyng That I may doo. c 1500 Melusine 9 The king said to them ‘That playseth me’. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) x. 38 Is no{supt} in erd I cure, Bot pleiss my lady pure. 1611 Bible Esther ii. 4 The thing pleased the king, and he did so. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 85 Imagining..that all was lawfull that pleased his humour. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xl, But she was resolved to please her eye, if she should plague her heart. 1837 Arnold Let. 21 Apr. in Stanley Life II. 81 Jacob Abbott's last work..will, I think, please you very much. |
b. absolutely. (At first perh. intr. = 1.)
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 158 For thei that cunnen plese and glose, Ben..the norrices Unto the fostringe of the vices. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. xvii, The vnwyse displeseth there where as he supposeth to please. c 1530 Pol., Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 31 Pleace with thi dedys rathir than with thy clothis. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 747 Two names, that always cheat, and always please. 1747 Johnson Prol. Opening Drury-Lane 54 The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give, For we that live to please, must please to live. a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. (1851) I. 356 Men and writers, if they please at all, must please by doing their best in their own way. 1877 Furnivall Leopold Shaks. Introd. 120 The revived doctrine that the main object of poetry is to please, seems to me too contemptible to be discusst. |
c. refl. To gratify or satisfy oneself. Also colloq. To do as one likes, take one's own way.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. xlix. vii, Please they them selves, and think at happiest stay Who please them selves. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 78 If I sent him word..it [his beard] was not well cut, he wold send me word he cut it to please himselfe: this is call'd the quip modest. 1608 ― Per. iv. i. 101 Perhappes they will but please themselues vpon her, not carrie her aboord. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike A iij, I purposed not so much to please my selfe, and a few, as to be beneficiall. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Pope Wks. IV. 67 Warburton..had, in the early part of his life, pleased himself with the notice of inferior wits. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 334 The clans which took no part in the insurrection..pleased themselves with the hope that they should easily make their peace with the conquerors. |
3. Impersonally, with formal subject it (the real subject being a following infinitive or clause, expressed or understood): To seem good to one; to be one's will or pleasure. (Equivalent in sense to ‘will’, ‘choose’, ‘think proper’, etc., with the person as subject: cf. 4 b.)
Formerly usual in deferential phrases of address or request, as and, an, if it please you, etc., may it, will it please you, your honour, etc.; ellipt. please it (corruptly pleaseth) you, etc.; also (with omission of it), so please you, please you, and still in please your honour, please God, please the pigs, etc.
† a. Const. with to (= F. à, L. dative). Obs.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter xxxix. 18 [xl. 13] Plese it, Lorde, to þe, þat þou defende me. 1382 Wyclif Esther i. 19 If it plese to thee [Vulg. si tibi placet], go ther out a maundement. c 1434 Paston Lett. I. 36 Plese it to Commines of the present Parlement, that William Paston..takyth diverse fees [etc.]. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 90 But she was paied, as it plesed to God, atte the laste. |
b. Const. with simple object (orig. a dative). † please it you, may it please you; also in arch. use as n.
(A following infinitive often lost its to in 16–17th c.)
| 1388 Wyclif Esther ix. 13 If it plesith the kyng [1382 If to the king it plese, Vulg. si regi placet], power be ȝouun to the Jewis. 1406 Hoccleve La male regle 416 If it thee lyke & plese. 1423 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 249 Please it your full wyse discretions, to consider the matier. c 1460 Play Sacram. 73 And yt place yow. 1478 Paston Lett. III. 221 Withouth it ple vow to send oon of yowr men to me. 1503 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 553/1 Pleas it nowe your Highnesse..to ordeyn. 1509 in Mem. Hen. VII (Rolls) 433 And hyt ple your grace..that [etc.]. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 350 Pleaseth you also to remember how many Lords, noble men, and good commons..died in thoss warres. c 1590 Marlowe Faust. Wks. 121/2 Please it your Holiness, I think it be some ghost. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. ii. 140 Come, come, wilt please you go? 1594 ― Rich. III, iv. iv. 488 Pleaseth [Qos. please it] your Maiestie to giue me leaue, Ile muster vp my friends. 1598 ― Merry W. i. i. 275 Wil't please your worship to come in, Sir? Ibid. ii. ii. 37 Not so, and 't please your worship. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. vi. (Arb.) 32 Not a word more sir ant please you. 1611 Bible Acts xv. 34 It pleased Silas to abide there still. 1646 Hamil on Papers (Camden) 117 May it please your Grace. 1822 Baroness Bunsen in Hare Life I. vi. 196 Wherefore he follows this plan it has never pleased him to explain. 1881 ‘Mark Twain’ Prince & Pauper xii. 138 With never a by-your-leave or so-please-it-you, or anything of the sort. |
c. With omission of it; in † please you, † so please you, may it (so) please you; please your honour, please God, etc.
| c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 72 Me pleis [= pleises] not at nowder of þies sulde be sent þis message. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. iii. 37 Ros. Will you heare the letter? Sil. So please you, for I neuer heard it yet. 1611 ― Cymb. ii. ii. 1 Imo. Who's there? My woman: Helene? Lady. Please you Madam. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 69 An please your Honour, there's a Man below wants to speak to you. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho vi, ‘Please your honour, he may be a robber’, said Michael. 1834 Lytton Pompeii ii. ii, To-morrow night, please the gods, we will have then a snug carousal. |
4. a. Passive. to be pleased: To be gratified, delighted, or agreeably satisfied. Const. with.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 149 Þe pepil was i-plesed wiþ his faire speche. 1426 Audelay Poems 3 Therwith he is both plesud and payd. 1535 Coverdale Ps. l[i]. 19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifice of rightuousnesse. 1718 Free-thinker No. 61. 40 Every One is pleased with such an Occasion of shewing the Superiority of his Understanding. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. ii. ii. (1874) 213 Nor can God be pleased with the perverted adoration. |
b. (a) with inf. (or clause), expressing the subject of satisfaction. Also, (b) To have the will or desire, to be moved; (c) To think proper, vouchsafe, choose; to have the kindness, be so obliging as; sarcastically: to have the humour. pleased to meet you: a formula used in reply to an introduction. Cf. meet v. 4.
(This is the passive of the impersonal construction: I was pleased to see = it pleased me to see.)
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 3008, I was wel plesed..To see the botoun fair and swote, So fresshe spronge out of the rote. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 246 Be pleased then To pay that dutie which you truly owe. 1610 ― Temp. iii. ii. 44 Wilt thou be pleas'd to hearken..to the suite. Ibid. iii. iv. 161 If you be pleas'd, retire into my Cell, And there repose. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 10 The tongues wherein God was pleased to speake to his Church by his Prophets and Apostles. ― Ps. xl. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliuer me. 1680 Sir C. Lyttelton in Hatton Corr. (Camden) 239 He was pleased to tell mee the King sayd it was for his service. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 60 To persecute..persons that he is pleas'd to call heriticks. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 459 Pleas'd I am, no beaten Road to take. 1712 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 424 He was pleas'd to mention the Controversy between D{supr}. Kennett and me. 1759 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 405 The governor is pleased to doubt our having such letters as we mentioned. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey ii. vi, My dear Sir! you are pleased to be amusing this morning. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xvii. 67 A noble and powerful city, inhabited by rich, daring, and he is pleased to add faithless, citizens. 1914 C. Mackenzie Sinister Street II. iii. xv. 802 Doesn't it make you shiver? It's like the ‘Pleased to meet you’, of Americans and Tootingians. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vii. 102 Pleased ter meet yer, miss. 1934 A. Christie Murder on Orient Express ii. iv. 97 Mrs. Hubbard murmured: ‘Pleased to meet you, I'm sure.’ 1955 M. Allingham Beckoning Lady v. 68 Pleased to meet you... I thought I'd just step across..and touch my cap, so to speak. 1966 J. Cleary High Commissioner iii. 41 ‘Lady Porthleven, may I present Mr. Malone?’ ‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Malone. ‘Oh, really?’ Lady Porthleven looked surprised: no one had ever actually told her he was pleased to meet her. 1974 A. Price Other Paths to Glory iii. vi. 185 ‘Mr.—Hayhoe?’ Mitchell thrust out his hand... ‘Pleased to meet you.’ Hayhoe nodded easily... There was room neither for deference nor condescension in the greeting. |
5. trans. To appease, pacify, satisfy. Obs. or dial.
| 1382 Wyclif Lev. i. 3 A maal with outen wemme he shal offre..to plese to hym the Lord [1388 to make the Lord plesid to hym, Vulg. ad placandum sibi dominum]. ― Ps. xlviii. 8 [xlix. 7] He shal not ȝiue to God wher of he be plesid [1388 to God his plesyng, Vulg. placationem suam]. 1563 Homilies ii. For Gd. Friday ii. (1859) 420 He could do nothing that might please God's wrath. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Pio, Delicta plare..to please god for sinne. 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Pleease, to satisfy, to make an equivalent. ‘I'll pleease you for 't.’ |
II. 6. a. intr. To be pleased, to like; to have the will or desire; to have the humour; to think proper. (In sense, exactly = the passive in 4, 4 b.)
The history of this inverted use of please (observed first in Scottish writers) is obscure. But exactly the same change took place in the 14th c. in the use of the synonymous verb like, where the impersonal ‘it liked him’, ‘him liked’, became ‘he liked’ c 1430. It may therefore be assumed that ‘I please’ was similarly substituted for ‘it pleases me’, ‘me pleases’ (c 1440 in 3 c). Cf. also Malory's ‘me ought’, in alliterative Morte Arthure ‘me aughte’, with Wyclif's ‘Y awȝte’, later ‘I ought’. The remarkable thing in the case of please is that the sense was already logically expressed by the passive to be pleased (sense 4), and that the new idiom was therefore not needed, ‘he pleases’ being simply = ‘it pleases him’, and ‘he is pleased’. Shakespeare uses the three forms indifferently. Indeed, all the constructions of the vb., exc. 6 c, are richly exemplified in his works: see Schmidt.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxi. 38 Ȝour melody he pleissis nocht till heir. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. vii. 5 From Lawrentum..War horsmen sent to Turnus, for to se Quhat he plesyt. 1530 [see b]. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxxxiv. [cxxxv.] 6 What so euer y⊇ Lorde pleaseth, y{supt} doth he in heauen & in earth. [Elsewhere C. has always ‘pleaseth the Lord’, which also stands here in the Great Bible and Geneva.] 1581 N. Burne Disput. in Cath. Traciates (S.T.S.) 122 Lauch alsmekle als ye pleiss. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 2 b, This your anguish of mind, or melancholie, as you please to tearme it. 1588 Greene Perimedes Ep. Ded., If he [Perimedes] please I have my desire. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iii. v. 71 This yong maid might do her A shrewd turne if she pleas'd. 1612 Two Noble K. ii. ii. 59, I see two comforts rysing, two meere blessings, If the gods please. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 140 They..single what beast they please to fight with. 1649 Howell Pre-em. Parl. 3 The Book you pleased to send me. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 138 He may when he pleaseth, free himselfe from that subjection. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 21 He travels a foot with his whole Court, yet his Courtiers go as they please. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xvii. (1848) 270, I can make her speak to me, just what I please. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 81 That he will please to let me know all therein. 1713 Addison Guard. No. 160 ¶7 You may make what use of it you please. ? 1800 W. B. Rhodes Bomb. Fur. i. (1830) 7 What will your Majesty please to wear? 1885 Law Rep. 29 Ch. Div. 488 The plaintiff..has a right to have the trial where he pleases. |
b. if († and, an) you please: if it please you, if you like, if it is your will or pleasure: a courteous qualification to a request, the acceptance of an offer, etc.; also (parenthetically), a sarcastic way of emphasizing any surprising statement, as if asking leave to make it. (So F. s'il vous plaît. Cf. by your leave: see leave n.1 1.)
Here you may have been originally dative, as in 3 b (i.e. if (it) please you, = L. si vobis placet, F. s'il vous plaît, Ger. wenn es Ihnen gefällt), as in quot. 1483 in 2; but it is now taken as nominative (i.e. if you are pleased, if you like, if it is your will or pleasure): cf. if he pleases; if they please, above (in 6); and ‘if ye please’ here in 1530. Shakespeare has both if you be pleased (4 b), and if you please.
| 1530 Jyl of Brentford's Test. (Ballad Soc.) 15 But tary, I pray you all, Yf ye please. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 50 Let me say no, my Liedge, and if you please. 1596 ― Merch. V. i. i. 147 If you please To shoote another arrow that selfe way. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. iv. 355 Pray sir, put your sword vp if you please. 1621 H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 58, I wyll goe, and you please. a 1653 Binning Serm. (1845) 419 Ye need not be made miserable, but if you please. a 1907 Mod. Will you take another cup? If you please. (To child) Say ‘If you please’, and you shall have it. |
| 1816 Jane Austen Emma I. xii. 214 South End is prohibited, if you please. 1848 Thackeray in Scribner's Mag. I. 391/1, I heard of the father and son in the other regiment.., the Slashers if you please, being carried up drunk to bed. 1879 Cornh. Mag. XL. 558 He wants to pay his addresses, if you please, to Ursula! a 1907 Mod. He must travel first class, if you please, like his betters. 1951 J. Cornish Provincials 57 In the winter the heating system was always going on the blink and then the headmistress would scurry round opening windows, if you please. 1973 Math. Teacher May 479/1 To a monotonous degree, then, each aspect of the operation of the Council is in the hands of the mathematics educators—the teachers, if you please. 1979 ‘M. Yorke’ Death on Account xi. 110 He's gone away for the weekend, if you please. |
c. please! (imperative or optative) was app. originally short for please you (3 c) = ‘may it (or let it) please you’; but it is now usually taken as = ‘Be pleased’ (imperative of 6), or as short for ‘if you please’ (6 b).
This use of please appears to have been unknown to Shakespeare, whose shortest form is please you (3 c).
When parenthetical, or without construction, please is = may it please you, if it please you, if you please; e.g. Please, may I go out? May I come in, please? Come here, please; Give me my hat, please; Please, Sir, did you call? Shall I ring the bell? Yes, please. Will you, please, take a message for me?
But when followed by an infinitive, it is = Be pleased: e.g. Please to excuse my keeping you waiting; Please to return the book soon; Please not to lose it.
| [1622 F. Markham Bk. War v. vii. 185 Please then my Lord to read this Epistle.] 1667 Milton P.L. v. 397 Heav'nly stranger, please to taste These bounties which our Nourisher,..To us for food and for delight hath caus'd The Earth to yeild. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 90 Please then to take my place. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed (1900) 226 ‘Then I'll tell the boys...’ ‘Please not, old man.’ 1898 G. B. Shaw Plays II. You never can tell 309 Yes, sir. Please, who are you? |
d. as you please, in comparative phrases.
| 1928 ‘ Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country xvi. 273 The native-born maids were as pretty and perky as you please. 1964 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 23 Jan. (1970) 60 Lynda Bird got up..and said she had just come from the University of Texas where we had the Number One football team..to the house where she could listen to the Number One people of the nation.., just as poised as you please. |
† 7. trans. To be pleased with, take pleasure in; to like. Sc. Obs.
| 1578 Ps. li. in Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801) II. 119 Gif thou had pleased sacrifice I suld have offered thee. 1616 J. Haig in J. Russell Haigs vi. (1881) 139 Gif they pleasit not his wark when they saw it, he should correct it. a 1665 Guthrie Chr. Gt. Interest i. viii. (1766) 119 You wonder that any man should not please the device of salvation by Christ. 1719 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 470, I please what you term the demy [paper], but I think it's thin. |
▪ II. † please, n. Sc. rare.
[f. prec.]
Pleasing, pleasure.
| a 1550 Freiris of Berwik 428 in Dunbar's Poems (S.T.S.) 299 Bot all thair sport, quhen thay wer maist at eiss, Vnto our deme it wes bot littill pleiss. |