pleasance 
irl love I seke nothlr pittance, ne ease, 
Nor grete desire, nor righte grete affiance. 
PolUual Poemt, etc, (ed. Furnlvall), p 2. 
The m MI|.|I- 
\\ith pleasance laugh to Me the satyrs play. 
Greene, Orlando Furliwii. 
When my passion seeks 
Pleasance In love-sighs. 
7Vn//i, Lillian. 
It wan a pageant befitting a young and magnificent 
chief. In the freshness and pleasance of his years. 
Irmxj, Moorlih Chronicles, p. 18. 
3. Pleasure; will. 
Doth your pUtauncr ; I wol your last obeye. 
Chaiuxr, Clerk's Tale, 1. 802. 
8er, If It be your will and your pleataunce, 
Her am I come to offer my serulce 
To your lordshippe, right as ye list to devise. 
Uenerydct (K. E. T. S.\ 1. 654. 
4. A garden, especially a pleasure-garden, or 
part of a garden attached to a mansion but se- 
cluded or screened by trees, shrubs, and close 
hedges. 
The window . . . commanded a delightful view of what 
wat called the Pleamnce space of ground enclosed and 
decorated with arches, trophies, statues, fountains, and 
other architectural monuments, which formed one access 
from the castle Itself Into the garden. 
Scott, Kenllworth, xxvi. 
Meanwhile the party had broken up, and wandered 
away by twos and threes, among trim gardens, and pleas- 
niuirr*, and clipped yew-walks. Kingsley, Westward Ho. 
6. A kind of lawn or gauze in use in the fif- 
teenth and sixteenth centuries. In one instance 
at least It Is mentioned as used for a napkin. It was 
sometimes black. 
Moreover there Is j. kome in to Englond a knyght out 
of Spayne, with a kercheff of plctaimct i wrapped aboute 
hys arme ; the wych knyght wyl renne a cours wyth 
sharpe spere for his sovereyn lady sake. 
Potion Letters, I. 41. 
Over their gannentes were vochettes of pleasauntes, 
ronled with cryinosyne velvet, and set with letters of gold 
like carrettes, their heades ronled In pleatait ntft and typ- 
ners lyke the Kglpclans. 
Uatt, Henry VIII., f. 7. (Halliuvll.) 
[Archaic in all senses.] 
Kercbief of pleaaancet. See kerchief. 
pleasancyt (plez'an-si), n. [As pleasance (see 
-cy).] Pleasantness. 
pleasant (plez'ant), a. and w. [Early mod. E. 
nlnopleasaunt; <CME. *ples<int,pleamund,< OF. 
/i/iixinii. pletant-plaisant, F. plaisant = lt.pia- 
cente,inugente,<. E. placen(t-).i, pleasing, charm- 
ing, dear, ppr. of placere, please: see please.] 
1. a. 1. Pleasing; delightful; agreeable; grate- 
ful to the mind or to the senses. 
The bocher sweet, tine pleasant flounder thin. 
J. I >rn, i ii* (Arber s Lug. Darner, I. 175). 
How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell 
together In unity ! Ps. cxxxili. 1. 
ThU summer morning makes vs couetous 
To take the profit of the pleasant alre. 
Ueytcooa, If you Know not Me, II. 
This latter [Lord Weston) goes to France, Savoy, Ven- 
ice, and so returns by Florence a pleasant Journey, for 
he carrleth Presents with him from King and Queen. 
HowfU, Letters, I. T. 88. 
The pleasant savoury smell 
So qnicken'd appetite that I, methought, 
Could not but taste. Milton, P. I., v. 84. 
A pleasant spot In spring, where first the wreu 
Was heard to chatter. 
Bryant, Little People of the Snow. 
2. Merry; lively; cheerful; gay. 
Tis merry. 
And meant to make yepleasaiit, and not weary. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, Prol. 
Nay, then, I'm heartily pleasant, and as merry 
Ai one that owes no malice. 
Hiddleton, More Dissemblers besides Women, ill. 1. 
Happy who In his verse can gently steer 
From grave to light, from pleasant to severe. 
Dryden and Stamen, it. of Bolleau's Art of Poetry, I. 70. 
3. Jocular; witty; facetious. 
They all agreed ; so, turning all to game 
And pleasaunt bord, they past forth on their way. 
Sperurr, Y. Q., IV. Iv. 13. 
It does become yon well to make us merry : 
I have heard often of your ntauant rein. 
Beau, and ft., CspUIn, III. 8. 
Can a ghost laugh . . . when you are pleatant with him ? 
Lamb, New- Yew's Eve. 
= 8yn. 1. Pleatant, Pleating AgneabU,Conocnial, gratify 
Ing, acceptable, welcome. Pleating Is the strongest, and 
airreeable the weakest of the first four words. Pleatant 
ran be, and generally Is, applied to things In the con- 
crete: as, pleatant weather. Pleating applies generally 
to things not physical : as, a pleasant face ; a pleasing 
aspect, variety. I'leatanl suggests the effect produced. 
fluting the power of producing It ; hence we may say 
n pleasant or a pleating variety. Pleating must be ulijec 
tlve, pleatant may lie subjective : as, he was In a pleasant 
iii'l. Agreeable and congenial arc used of social qualities 
and relations, but the latter goes deeper, expressing a 
natural suitableness, on the put of a person or thing, to 
the tastes, habits, temperament, or passing mood of the 
person concerned. 
454S 
It was worth while to hear the croaking and hollow tones 
nf the old lady, and the pleatant voice of I'hu he, mingling 
In one twisted thread of talk. 
llaiMitrne, Seven Gables, v. 
Sallies of wit and quick replies are very pleating In con 
venation. Johnton. 
Politeness and good breeding are equally necessary to 
make you welcome and agreeable In conversation and com- 
mon life. Chcsterjlcld, Letters. 
The natural and congenial conversations of men of let- 
ters and of artists must he those which are associated with 
their pursuits. 
/. D'ltraeli, Lit. Char, of Men of Genius, p. 147. 
n.t A humorist; a droll; a jester; a buf- 
foon. 
They bestow their silver on courtesans, pleasant*, and 
flatterers. Holland, tr. ol Plutarch, p. 169. (Encyc. Diet.') 
pleasantly (plez'ant-li), adv. 1. In a pleasant 
manner, (a) So as to please or gratify the senses or the 
mind. 
It Htam let h very pleasantly in a cllft betweene two hilles. 
HaUuyt's Voyage*, IL 104. 
All these things were carried so pleamntly as within a 
weeke they became Masters, making It their delight to 
heare the trees thunder as they fell. 
Quoted In Capt. John Smith's Works, 1. 107. 
(6) Merrily ; cheerfully ; happily. 
It is Impossible to live pleamitll/i without living wisely, 
nnd well, and justly; and It is impossible to live wisely, 
and well, and justly without living pleasantly. 
Quoted in W. Wallace's Epicureanism, p. 156. 
2f. Jestingly; jocularly. 
This embellishment carries an odd appearance, and has 
occasioned strangers sometimes to ask us pleaxantlii, 
"Whether we fastened our walls with tenpenny nails? 
Gilbert White, Nat. Hist, of Selborne, letter iv. 
pleasantness (plez'ant-nes), M. 1. Pleasing or 
agreeable character' or quality ; the quality of 
being pleasing or of affording pleasure. 
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
peace. Prov. ill. 17. 
All the way from the white Promontory to this Plain is 
exceeding Rocky : but here the pleasantness of the Road 
makes you amends for the former labour. 
Havndrett, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 53. 
Bewitched with t he pleasa ntnesse of the fruit to the taste 
and sight. 7'tircAan, Pilgrimage, p. 25. 
In all satisfaction of desire there is pleasure, and thus 
pleasantness in an object is a necessary incident of its being 
good. T. H. Green, Prolegomena to Ethics, 171. 
2. Vivacity; gaiety. 
It was refreshing, but composed, like the pleasantness 
of youth tempered with the gravity of age. South. 
3t. Jocularity; pleasantry. 
pleasantry (plez'an-tri), .; pi. pleasantries 
(-triz). [< F. plaiitanterie = It. ]>iacetei'ia, pia- 
grnteria, pleasantry; as pleasant + -ry.] 1. 
Good humor; cheerfulness: sprightliuess. 
The harshness of reasoning is not a little softened and 
smoothed by the Infusions of mirth and pleasantry. 
Addison. 
But let us leave the serious reflections, and converse 
with our usual pleasantry. 
B. Franklin, Autobiography, p. 29.'.. 
2. Humorousiietm; jocularity; witticism; rail- 
lery; wit. 
He saw my distress, and, with a kind of benevolent 
pleasantry, asked me If I would let him guess any more. 
Hut Bvrney, Evelina, till. 
The harmless play of pleasantry and mirth. 
Cotrper, Epistle to J. Hill. 
The keen observation and Ironical pleasantry of a finish- 
ed man of the world. Macavlay. 
3. A sprightly or humorous saying; a jest. 
The grave abound In pleatantries, the dull In repartees 
and points of wit. Addison. 
4. A laughable trick; a prank; a caper: as, 
the pleasantries of monkeys. Atldison. ( Worces- 
ter. )=8yu. 2. Sport, fun, facetlousness, joooseness, drol- 
lery. 
pleasant-spirited (plez'ant-spir'i-ted), a. Hav- 
ing a pleasant spirit ; cheerful; merry. 
D. Pedro. A pleasant-spirited lady. 
Leon. There s little of the melancholy element in her. 
Shak., Much Ado, it. 1. 355. 
pleasant-tongned (plez'aut-tungd), a. Having 
pleasing speech. 
pleasauncet, . An obsolete form of pleasance. 
please (plez), r. ; pret. and pp. pleased, ppr. 
pleating. [< ME.n/fP, < OF. plesir, plaigir, 
also plere, pleire, F. plaire = Pt. placer = Sp. 
placer = Pg. pracer = It. piacere, piagere, < L. 
placere, please, be agreeable, welcome, or ac- 
ceptable, satisfy, impers. place! (vith dat. mihi, 
etc.), it pleases, suits (me, etc.), it is (my) opin- 
ion or resolve, etc. Prom the L. placere are 
also ult. E. pleasant, pliasancr, pleasure, plea, 
lilnitl, complacent, complaisant, /</</</, jilacate, 
rli'. Fn constructions and development pli-axr 
is similar to like 3 , r.] I. trans. 1. To be agree- 
iiblo to; suit: KntiHfy; seem good to: BMdlia- 
pleaser 
personally, and followed by an object, originally 
dative, of" the person : same as Me 3 , L, 1. This 
Impersonal construction with the Indirect object of tie 
person has given way in more familiar use to a personal 
construction, the original dative you, in if you pleate, for 
example, being now taken as the subject. (See II., 1.) The 
word In this sense was formerly common in polite request, 
may it please you, or if it please you, or, elliptical!), please 
you: a mode of speech still common in addressing; a judge 
or persons of rank or position : as, may It please the court , 
If ft please your honor ; pleate your worship ; etc. ( 'om- 
pare II., 1. 
It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell 
CoLL 19. 
Please you, lords, 
In sight of both our battles we may meet. 
Shot., 2 Hen. IV., IT. 1. 178. 
The toils and troubles. 
All that Is linrtlicrii nis in authority, 
Please yon lay It on me. 
Mitltlli't'tn (and another). Mayor of Queenhorough, I. 1. 
It Is very likely, an 't please your Worship, that I should 
bullock him ; I have marks enow about my body to show 
of his cruelty to me. Fielding, Tom Jones, II. 6. 
2. To excite agreeable sensations or emotions 
in; impart satisfaction, gratification, pleasure, 
or delight to; gratify; content. 
The either suster vndtrstode hym wele, and gretly was 
plened with his doctryne. .Vrrtiii (E. E. T. S.X L 5. 
I know a Trout taken with a fly of your own making will 
pleate you better than twenty with one of mine. 
Cotton, In Walton's Angler. II. 247. 
What next I bring shall pteate . . . 
Thy wish exactly to thy heart's desire. 
MUton, P. L., vlll. 41' '. 
Pleas'd in Mind, he calls a Chair, 
Adjusts, and combs, and courts the Fair. 
Congreve, An Impossible Thing. 
Tis certainly very commendable in the King, who pleates 
himself in Planting and Pruning the Trees with his own 
Hand, to make use of no other Trees but what the Neigh- 
bouring Woods afford. Lifter, Journey to Paris, p. 209. 
If it were not to please yon, I see no necessity of our 
parting. Dryden, Mock Astrologer, Iv. 
Pleased with his daily task, or, If not pleased, 
Contented. Wordsworth, Prelude, vl. 
Please the pigs. seej</i. To be pleased (followed 
by an Infinitive with to), (a) To be willing or well inclined. 
Here also they are pleased to shew a stone, which, the)' 
say, spoke on that question. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. I. 9. 
Many of our most skillful painters . . . iirre pleased to 
recommend this author to me. 
Dryden, Parallel of Poetry and Painting. 
(M To think lit or have the complaisance or kindness ; 
condescend : be good enough ; be so kind as : an expres- 
sion of courtesy, often used ironically. 
They are pleas' d, I hear, 
To censure me extremely for my pleasures. 
Fletcher, Valentinian, L 3. 
To be Pleased in, to take pleasure in. 
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Mat. Hi. 17. 
= Sy n. 2. To rejoice, gladden, make glad. 
fl. intrants. 1. To like; choose; think fit: as, 
do as you please. 
Their troops we can expel with ease, 
Who vanquish only when vie pleate. 
Dryden, Fair Stranger, 1. 12. 
The Aga sent for my servant, and told him I might stay 
UK long as I pleased, but that I should see nothing more. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 119. 
Since I last attended your Lordship here, I summoned 
my Thoughts to Counsel, and canvassed to and fro within 
myself the Business you pleased to Impart to me, for going 
upon the King's Service Into Italy. 
Hmrell. Letters, I. iv. 25. 
Spirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease 
Assume what sexes and what shapes they please. 
Pope, R. of the L., 1. 69. 
[In this use common in polite request : as, please let me 
pass ; especially In the phrase \f you pleate (see I., IX by 
ellipsis, In familiar use, pleate: as, let me pass, pleate.] 
2. To give pleasure ; win approval. 
For we that live to pleate must pleate to live. 
Johnson, Prol. on Opening of Drury Lane Theatre. 
Let her be comprehended In the frame 
Of these illusions, or they please no more. 
Wordsworth, Sonnets, 111. 3. 
pleasedly (ple'zed-li), orfr. In a pleased man- 
ner; with pleasure or satisfaction. 
Surely, he that would be pleasedly innocent must re- 
frain from the Ust of offence. Feltham, Resolves, II. 40. 
He . . . that can look upon another man's lands evenly 
and pleatedly, as If they were his own. 
Jer. Taylor, Holy Dying, i. 2. 
pleasemant, [<vt9a, v., and obj. HI.| 
An officious or servile person who courts favor : 
a pickthank. 
Some carry-tale, some pUase-man. some flight zany. . . . 
Told our Intents before. Shak., I.. I. I.., v. 2. 463. 
pleaser (pIc'/i'-H, . One who pleasos or grati- 
fies. 
No man wss more a pleater of all men, to whom 1 
Paull became all honest things, that he might ualn M>IM> 
Jer. Tai/l'ir ('.), Artlf. Handwinienesn, p, l^v 
