Please

How to spell please

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce please

What does please mean?

1. adverbUsed to add courtesy or politeness to a request or instruction.
2. verbTo give satisfaction or pleasure to someone.

Please in a sentence

• adverb

  Please close the door on your way out.

• verb

  The new manager works hard to please every client.

• adverb

  Please send the finished report to the office before noon.

• verb

  It is impossible to please everyone at once.

Where does please come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Please comes ultimately from the Latin verb placere, which meant 'to be agreeable, acceptable, or pleasing'. English took it through Old French plaisir during the 1300s, where it first carried the sense of giving pleasure or satisfying someone. The familiar polite use, as in a request, grew out of older phrases like 'if it please you' or 'may it please you', which were gradually trimmed down until only the bare word 'please' remained as a marker of courtesy. The same placere root sits behind a family of related English words such as 'pleasant', 'pleasure', 'placate', and 'complacent', all sharing the idea of agreeableness. The spelling keeps the soft -ease ending rather than the simpler -eez sound, which is why it is occasionally muddled with the unrelated word 'pleas', the plural of a legal plea.

How the word is built

• pleas- (from Latin placere: to be agreeable, to satisfy)
• -e