different between please vs entertain

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pli?z/, [pl??iz]
• (General American) enPR: pl?z, IPA^(key): /pliz/, [p??iz]
• Rhymes: -i?z
• Homophone: pleas

Etymology 1

From Middle English plesen, plaisen, borrowed from Old French plaise, conjugated form of plaisir or plaire, from Latin plac?re (“to please, to seem good”), from the Proto-Indo-European *pl?-k- (“wide and flat”). Displaced native English queme (“to please, satisfy”), from Middle English quemen, queamen (“to please”) (from Old English cw?man (“to please”)), Middle English biluvien (“to please, delight”) (from Middle English bi-, be- + luvien (“to love”)), Middle English liken (“to like, please”) (from Old English l?cian (“to please, be like”)), Middle English lusten, listen (“to be pleasing, delight”) (from Old English lystan (“to please”)).

Alternative forms

• pleace (used from the Middle English period up to the 15th century, and in Scots until the 17th century)

Verb

please (third-person singular simple present pleases, present participle pleasing, simple past and past participle pleased)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to.
2. (intransitive, ergative) To desire; to will; to be pleased by.

Synonyms

• (to make happy): satisfy
• (to desire): desire, will

Antonyms

• (to make happy): annoy, irritate, disgust, displease

Derived terms

• pleaser
• pleasing
• pleasy

Related terms

• pleasant
• pleasurable
• pleasure

Translations

Etymology 2

Short for if you please, an intransitive, ergative form taken from if it pleases you which is a calque of French s'il vous plaît, which replaced pray.

Alternative forms

• (for the exaggerated way it is often pronounced as the expression of annoyance) puh-lease

Adverb

please (not comparable)

1. Used to make a polite request.

2. Used as an affirmative to an offer.

3. An expression of annoyance or impatience.

Derived terms

• please explain
• pretty please

Descendants

• ? Bengali: ????? (plij), ????? (plij)
• ? Hindi: ?????? (pl?z) (urban, colloquial)
• ? Urdu: ????? (pl?z) (urban, colloquial)

Translations

Etymology 3

Semantic loan from German bitte (“please; excuse me”).

Adverb

please (not comparable)

1. (Cincinnati) Said as a request to repeat information.

Synonyms

• (request to repeat): what, excuse me, pardon me, come again; see also Thesaurus:say again

References

Anagrams

• Sapele, asleep, elapse, sapele

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French entretenir, from entre (“among”) + tenir (“to hold”), from Latin inter + tene? (“hold, keep”). For the noun, compare French entretien.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??nt??te?n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??nt??te?n/, [??????t?e?n]
• Hyphenation: en?ter?tain
• Rhymes: -e?n

Verb

entertain (third-person singular simple present entertains, present participle entertaining, simple past and past participle entertained)

1. (transitive) To amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.

2. (transitive and intransitive) To have someone over at one's home for a party or visit.

   • Be not forgetful to entertain strangers […]

3. (transitive) To receive and take into consideration; to have a thought in mind.
   • 1851, Thomas De Quincey, Literary Reminiscences

     I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke.

   • A rumour gained ground, — and, however absurd, was entertained by some very sensible people.

4. (obsolete) To take or keep in one's service; to maintain; to support; to harbour; to keep.
5. (obsolete) To meet or encounter, as an enemy.
6. (obsolete) To lead on; to bring along; to introduce.
   • 1673, Jeremy Taylor, Heniaytos: A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year […]

     to baptize all nations, and to entertain them into the services and institutions of the holy Jesus

Derived terms

• entertainer
• entertaining
• entertainment

Related terms

Translations

Noun

entertain (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Entertainment; pleasure.
2. (obsolete) Reception of a guest; welcome.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.8:

     But neede, that answers not to all requests, / Bad them not looke for better entertayne […].

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Tarentine, Terentian, antienter