Etymograph

English

please

Please comes from Latin placeō ‘to please, to seem good’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleHk-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleHk-1‘pleasingness’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplaceō1‘to please’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400plaise1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plesen1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611please1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English please
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Whatsoeuer the Lord pleased, that did he in heauen…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleHk-Wiktionary, English please‘pleasingness’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplaceōWiktionary, English please‘to please’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400plaiseWiktionary, English please
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plesenWiktionary, English please
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611pleaseWiktionary, English please. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Whatsoeuer the Lord pleased, that did he in heauen…”

The story

In this sense, displaced native Old English līcian, whence Modern English.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with please, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *pleHk- ‘pleasingness, permission’

  • placate ← plācātus ← plācō ← *pleh₂-
  • implacable ← implācābilis ← plācābilis ← plācō ← *pleh₂-

through Latin placeō ‘to please, to seem good’

10 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To make happy or satisfy; to give pleasure to.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “please”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleHk- / please