entry
please
/pliːz/To satisfy, delight, or make a polite request
From Proto-Indo-European plehk (To agree).
from PIE *pl(e)hk- "to agree, be pleasant," with cognates in Tocharian plak- "to agree," plaki "permission." By...
from Latin placeō (“to please, to seem good”)
from Old French plaisir "to please, give pleasure to, satisfy" (11c., Modern French plaire , the form of which is...
from Middle English plesen, plaisen, borrowed
Word Ancestry
from PIE *pl(e)hk- "to agree, be pleasant," with cognates in Tocharian plak- "to agree," plaki "permission." By...
from Latin placeō (“to please, to seem good”)
from Old French plaisir "to please, give pleasure to, satisfy" (11c., Modern French plaire , the form of which is...
from Middle English plesen, plaisen, borrowed
Around 1300, English borrowed Middle English plesen from Old French, carrying the older idea of making someone satisfied or agreeable. Its Latin ancestor, placeō, also appears in placebo: the word began as “I shall please” in the Vulgate phrase Placebo Domino, “I shall please the Lord,” before doctors adopted it for a treatment intended more to please than to cure. The legal word plea took a different-looking route from the same family: a “plea” was originally something agreed upon, then a decision, and finally an argument made in court. By the 1620s, please had been clipped from “if it please you,” turning a whole deferential sentence into one tiny verbal bow. So when a child says “please,” the word is carrying an ancient history of approval, negotiation, and—occasionally—trying to get someone to hand over the biscuits.
The Story
Around 1300, English borrowed Middle English plesen from Old French, carrying the older idea of making someone satisfied or agreeable. Its Latin ancestor, placeō, also appears in placebo: the word began as “I shall please” in the Vulgate phrase Placebo Domino, “I shall please the Lord,” before doctors adopted it for a treatment intended more to please than to cure. The legal word plea took a different-looking route from the same family: a “plea” was originally something agreed upon, then a decision, and finally an argument made in court. By the 1620s, please had been clipped from “if it please you,” turning a whole deferential sentence into one tiny verbal bow. So when a child says “please,” the word is carrying an ancient history of approval, negotiation, and—occasionally—trying to get someone to hand over the biscuits.
Modern Usage
An expression of laughter or amused disbelief, often replacing “LOL” or “LMAO.”
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entry describing please as a humorous reaction
Kin & Kindred
From 'plehk'·To agree, be pleasant, or grant permission
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary