Indulge

How to spell indulge

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce indulge

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does indulge mean?

1. verbTo allow yourself or someone else to enjoy a pleasure or desire, often one that is a little excessive.

Indulge in a sentence

• On holiday they like to indulge in long lazy breakfasts.

• Grandparents tend to indulge their grandchildren with sweets and gifts.

Where does indulge come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin indulgere, a verb that meant to be kind or lenient toward someone, and by extension to give in to a wish or to grant something freely. The exact parts of indulgere are debated, but it combines the prefix in- with a root that carried the sense of yielding or being soft toward a person. In classical use it described a ruler or parent who was forgiving and permissive, which is why an official pardon in the Church later became known as an indulgence. English borrowed the word in the early 1600s, first with the meaning of treating someone with leniency or gratifying a desire. From granting a favour to others it shifted to the modern everyday sense of allowing yourself a pleasure. The g before the e gives the soft j sound, and the single l after the u is the main thing writers have to remember.

How the word is built

• in- (intensive)
• dulge (from Latin indulgere: to be lenient, to grant freely)